Towards a platform for prototyping control systems for optimization of neuromodulation therapies

Controlling epileptiform activities in the brain using exogenous neuromodulation technologies such as electrical or optogenetic stimulation is a promising approach for the treatment of medically refractory epilepsies. Despite great strides in developing neuromodulation therapies for epilepsy optimization of neuromodulation remains to be very challenging due to the paroxysmal nature of epileptic seizures, lack of complete understanding of the underlying mechanisms and the dynamics of the disease. This paper presents the utilization of a computational model of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy for optimization of neurostimulation for controlling the spike-wave discharges. Our results demonstrated that using a genetic algorithm to design an optimal stimulation waveform to prevent epileptiform activity in a model of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy. This work is aimed at developing a platform for prototyping closed-loop optimization algorithms for the control of neurostimulation, based on the integration of in vivo and in silico models of epilepsy.