About
Monitoring duration can vary from 1 to 5 days.
Reasons for intensive monitoring:
- To record sleep throughout the night
- To capture 'events' or seizures
- To establish the type and frequency of seizures
- To determine if the patient may be a candidate for epilepsy surgery
Your child does not need to be sleep deprived for this type of monitoring.
The test will be set up in the EEG Department where the same number of electrodes will be applied as for a routine EEG. The electrodes will be covered with a hat, which must be worn at all times during the monitoring.
Once the electrodes are applied, they are attached to a small box. The box is put into a backpack that your child will wear/carry with them at all times during the recording.
You will be taken to the ward, where your room will have a camera, microphone and special lighting for monitoring.
The box in the backpack is attached to a long cable that plugs into a computer. The cable is long enough to allow your child to walk to their private bathroom.
The technologist will review what you need to know about the equipment and what you will be required to do during the monitoring.
After the monitoring is finished, the electrodes will be removed. If the electrodes have been on for more than one day, your child might have some sore spots where the electrodes were sitting.