The largest Swiss epilepsy centre uses NeuroPro's innovative cloud-based diagnostic platform on which so-called brain and other patient data can be analysed in real time and from different locations. This enables diagnosis to be made more quickly and competently by involving specialists and improves the quality of treatment for neurological diseases.

The Swiss Epilepsy Centre at Lengg Clinic in Zurich, Switzerland's largest centre specializing in epilepsy, is pioneering the use of an advanced cloud-based multimedia platform. It is used for digital case discussions and for collaborative work on patient data, such as EEG (electroencephalography) data, MRIs or video recordings. Thanks to the platform, the clinic's neurologists can evaluate this data remotely and collaborate more closely with referring physicians, improving medical decision-making and the quality of treatment.

PD Dr. Lukas Imbach, Medical Director of the Swiss Epilepsy Centre at the Lengg Clinic, comments: "Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological diseases, affecting around 70 million people worldwide. The diagnosis and treatment of patients with epilepsy are therefore part of everyday clinical practice in neurology. About 30 percent of all epilepsies prove difficult to treat because the nature of the seizures is unclear, or the affected individuals do not respond to medical treatment. In these cases, further clarification is carried out in specialized epilepsy centres with neurophysiological, psychological and radiological expertise. There are situations where such help would be indicated but the patient cannot be referred to a specialized centre. The Corona pandemic has also highlighted the need for digital solutions in healthcare. With our cloud-based platform, affiliated centres can now access our experts from anywhere to assist with diagnosis and joint case analysis, ensuring that patients everywhere receive the optimal treatment as quickly as possible."

The platform is based on VMLpro, an advanced cloud-based multimedia system solution designed by NeuroPro.ch for remote diagnostics and collaborative work on patient data. The software was developed in close collaboration with professionals at the Swiss Epilepsy Centre at the Lengg Clinic in Zurich to ensure that it meets all the needs of physicians and integrates seamlessly into their daily work. Since 2021, the platform has been used by several hospitals, primarily for case conferences and for the effective exchange of medical data.

VMLpro enables physicians in clinics and practices to evaluate EEG (electroencephalography) data, MRIs, video recordings, etc. jointly and independently of the respective data format, thus accelerating and improving medical decision-making in difficult cases. Patients benefit from this stronger networking primarily through improved quality of care.

Dr. Teresa Sollfrank, Chief Product Manager at NeuroPro, explains: "Protecting the privacy of patient data has always been a top priority in this project. Therefore, the security concept was developed in close cooperation with the Cantonal Data Protection Officer of the Canton of Zurich and the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC). In consultation with them, a data protection framework was developed to ensure full compliance of the platform services with Swiss data protection and healthcare regulations."

The Swiss Epilepsy Centre at the Lengg Clinic in Zurich is the largest centre in Switzerland specializing in epilepsies, seizures and seizure-like disorders, with around 900 inpatient and 4,500 outpatient treatments per year. This centre uses VMLpro to help referring neurologists interpret unclear or ambiguous EEG recordings. In addition, the Swiss Epilepsy Centre offers to make critical recordings, for example of seizures made during intensive video EEG monitoring, available for preoperative or differential diagnostic evaluations. This also allows referring physicians to be involved in the process of providing thorough patient education about the opportunities and risks of epilepsy surgery. In this way, more patients with unclear seizure-like disorders can be correctly diagnosed and treated within a shorter period of time, and more individuals with medically untreatable epilepsies can be offered epilepsy surgery.

PD Dr. Lukas Imbach, Medical Director of the Swiss Epilepsy Center at the Lengg Clinic in Zurich, reports on one of the many examples of how VMLpro has improved the quality of patient care: "A patient was brought to the emergency room of a general hospital with two nocturnal seizures in quick succession but no history of epilepsy while still in the night. On the one hand, epileptic seizures are a great physical burden; on the other hand, the disturbed control of the central nervous system can cause important bodily functions such as the control of breathing, blood pressure and temperature to fail. Therefore, reliable diagnosis and prompt treatment are crucial. The attending physician was able to provide me with this patient's EEG recording through the VMLpro platform, so I was able to view this EEG immediately and give my opinion. Without the EEG platform, it might have taken hours to make the diagnosis. Close collaboration with specialized partners means that referrals can be made more quickly and in a more targeted manner. Effective sharing of findings enables timely initiation of necessary treatments."

Physicians in private practice and neurological departments that do not specialize in epileptology can benefit from such an innovative data exchange platform by having direct access to the opinions of epileptologists. In addition, they can now view together with their patients the video EEG recordings of their seizures (epileptic or non-epileptic), which they could previously only classify on the basis of the patients' verbal reports.

In a further step, digital collaboration with VMLpro will also enable hospitals without a neurology department to have EEG recordings of a comatose intensive care patient or a patient in the emergency department with blackout of unclear cause evaluated by external neurologists.
Dr. Jamil El-Imad, Managing Director and Chief Scientist at NeuroPro.ch, commented, "The Swiss Epilepsy Centre at Lengg Clinic is breaking new ground by offering this advanced online service to the neurological community, using the latest cutting-edge developments in cloud computing technology. We are excited that VMLpro, our remote diagnostics and collaboration platform, will enable the highest efficiency and quality of care."