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© 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Epilepsy, one of the most common neurological diseases in the world, affects around 50 million people, with a notably disproportionate prevalence in individuals residing in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Alarmingly, over 80% of annual epilepsy-related fatalities occur within LMICs. The burden of the disease assessed using Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) shows that epilepsy accounts for about 13 million DALYs per year, with LMICs bearing most of this burden due to the disproportionately high diagnostic and treatment gaps. Furthermore, LMICs also endure a significant financial burden, with the cost of epilepsy reaching up to 0.5% of the Gross National Product (GNP) in some cases. Difficulties in the appropriate diagnosis and treatment are complicated by the lack of trained medical specialists. Therefore, in these conditions, adopting artificial intelligence (AI)-based solutions may improve epilepsy care in LMICs. In this theoretical and critical review, we focus on epilepsy and its management in LMICs, as well as on the employment of AI technologies to aid epilepsy care in LMICs. We begin with a general introduction of epilepsy and present basic diagnostic and treatment approaches. We then explore the socioeconomic impact, treatment gaps, and efforts made to mitigate these issues. Taking this step further, we examine recent AI-related developments and their potential as assistive tools in clinical application in LMICs, along with proposals for future directions. We conclude by suggesting the need for scalable, low-cost AI solutions that align with the local infrastructure, policy and community engagement to improve epilepsy care in LMICs.

Details

Title
Assistive Artificial Intelligence in Epilepsy and Its Impact on Epilepsy Care in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Author
Koirala Nabin 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Adhikari, Shishir Raj 2 ; Adhikari Mukesh 3 ; Yadav Taruna 4 ; Anwar Abdul Rauf 5   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Dumitru, Ciolac 6   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Shrestha Bibhusan 7 ; Adhikari Ishan 8 ; Khanal Bishesh 2 ; Muthuraman, Muthuraman 9   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

 School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA; [email protected], Brain Imaging Research Core, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY 10962, USA, Nepal Applied Mathematics and Informatics Institute for Research, Kathmandu 44700, Nepal; [email protected] (S.R.A.); [email protected] (B.K.) 
 Nepal Applied Mathematics and Informatics Institute for Research, Kathmandu 44700, Nepal; [email protected] (S.R.A.); [email protected] (B.K.) 
 Gilling’s School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; [email protected] 
 School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA; [email protected] 
 Institut du Cerveau—Paris Brain Institute, 75013 Paris, France; [email protected] 
 Department of Neurology, State University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Nicolae Testemitanu”, MD-2004 Chisinau, Moldova; [email protected] 
 Department of Surgery, Kathmandu University Hospital, Dhulikhel 45200, Nepal; [email protected] 
 Department of Neurology, University of Texas, San Antonio, TX 78249, USA; [email protected] 
 Neural Engineering with Signal Analytics and Artificial Intelligence, Department of Neurology, University of Wurzburg, 97070 Wurzburg, Germany, Informatics for Medical Technology, Institute of Computer Science, University of Augsburg, 86159 Augsburg, Germany 
First page
481
Publication year
2025
Publication date
2025
Publisher
MDPI AG
e-ISSN
20763425
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
3211897609
Copyright
© 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.