New unit will help epilepsy patients in Sask.

A new seizure investigation unit (SIU) at Royal University Hospital is bringing hope to Saskatchewan residents living with epilepsy who haven’t responded to medication.

Roughly 30 per cent of the 10,000 people suffering from epilepsy in the province find no relief from traditional treatments, according to Dr. Alexandra Carter, the director of the Saskatchewan epilepsy program.

For these patients, surgery is often the only recourse, and the SIU is a crucial step toward making this procedure accessible.

"Once we have an idea as to where the seizures are coming from, we can start to plan to have surgery where we can take the part that's activating the seizures, while leaving the rest of the brain unaffected. Our goal is seizure freedom without any neurological deficit," said Dr. Carter.

Patients at the SIU undergo extensive brain scans and mapping procedures while having seizures under careful supervision.

"Intracranial EEG or cranial EEG plants electrodes deep within the brain to create a 3D model of seizures. We carefully plan implementation using clinical data, incorporating scalp EEG, neuro-imaging techniques, as well as neuropsychological imaging," said Dr. Cassie Fleury, physician lead at the SIU.

The SIU is designed to provide comfort and a livable space for patients during their stay.

"We have four beds where we are able to monitor, looking at the surgical evaluations. I think what makes our unit really stand out is the community space. I haven't really seen that anywhere else we've been to," said Carter.

The new unit came with a price tag of $2.2 million, with funding sourced from the RUH foundation and the provincial government, including a $1.35 million annual funding commitment from the province to operate it.