The Brief

Dogs at metro Atlanta's Canine Assistants are inspiring research into a device that can alert to oncoming epileptic seizures.
1. Researchers looked at how dogs were able to smell oncoming seizures to help develop the new device.
2. The FDA granted the device the Breakthrough Designation earlier this year.

MILTON, Ga, - From man's best friend to highly trained law enforcement officers and medical service providers, it seems dogs can do it all. Now, a special group of canines is helping unlock the answers to medical issues that plague millions of Americans. A group of researchers is creating a device that can help predict seizures, and it's in large part thanks to the noses of dogs from a nonprofit in the metro that seem to know no bounds.

What we know: Don't be fooled by the treats and tail wags, the dogs at Canine Assistants are trained to work.

"I think that we need dogs so badly because they are able to do things that we're not. And more remarkably to me, is that they're willing to do it on our behalf, which I find incredible," Canine Assistants' founder and executive director Jennifer Arnold said.

*The dogs at Canine Assistants are hoping catch seizures before they happen. (FOX 5)*

The dogs here are trained as therapy dogs and service animals for those with medical needs including Type 1 Diabetes, mobility difficulties, and epilepsy.

"At Canine Assistants, we hate epilepsy. We truly do. Not only do we have many recipients who have epilepsy, we have many, many people on our waiting lists who are desperate for help," she said.

By the numbers: According to the World Health Organization, around 50 million people have epilepsy in the world. The CDC reports around 3 million Americans live with it, and the Epilepsy Foundation says at least 1 million people have uncontrolled epilepsy in America. That's why Arnold and her team wanted to do more to help.

"This had to be done. We have people on our waiting lists who die. That can't happen anymore. And I think this is going to be a remarkable solution," Arnold said.

Dig deeper: The idea was to find out how the dogs at Canine Assistants knew their person was going to have a seizure to alert them. Jennifer Arnold's brother, Gary Arnold, started KnOW Biological to get to the bottom of it.

"We watched the dogs at Canine Assistants be able to predict seizures in advance with their recipients who had epilepsy. And we thought to ourselves, how are they doing this? And finally, after trial and error and research, we discovered that it was smell. There was a unique smell created by the body - a chemical change in the body just before, during, and just after a seizure," Gary Arnold said.

They used the dogs here to help narrow down what exactly the smell was.

"We look to the dogs to guide us, and help us, and direct us, and verify and confirm what we're doing," he said.

*Gary Arnold started KnOW Biological to get to the bottom of how dogs knew when seizures were about to start. (FOX 5)*

With that research, they met with Sandia National Laboratory in New Mexico to create a smart monitor that can collect those smells and send an alert.

"We now have a prototype that works that's about to leave the lab to go to clinical testing clinical trials in Denver where our epileptologist is and we'll start that process," he said.

Dig deeper: Earlier this year, the FDA granted the device its Breakthrough Designation, which will help pave the way as it goes through clinical trials before reaching the market.

"If you had something very pragmatic that could let you know that in 15 minutes you were going to have a seizure, how would that change your life?" Gary Arnold said.

It's a potentially life-changing and life-saving device that all started with the noses here at Canine Assistants.

"I think that we don't give dogs and other animals the credit that they deserve. I think they're much brighter than we realize. I think we don't always treat them with the respect that they deserve. And I hope that people will see that dogs change the world," Jennifer Arnold said.

The plan is for the device to go through clinical trials, and then it will need full FDA approval. They hope to put the device on the market in 2026.

Source: https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/metro-atlanta-service-dogs-inspiring-research-predicting-seizures