While it’s not a complete fix, the new AI system, developed by Hisham Daoud and Magdy Bayoumi of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, is a major leap forward from existing prediction methods. Currently, other methods analyze brain activity with an EEG (electroencephalogram) test and apply a predictive model afterwards. The new method does both of those things at once, with the help of a deep learning algorithm that maps brain activity and another that can predict the electrical channels lighting up during a seizure.

It’ll still be some time before this technique will be available for widespread use — the team is now working on a custom chip that can help process the necessary algorithms — but it could be life-changing news for patients with epilepsy.