Application of approximate entropy on dynamic characteristics of epileptic absence seizure☆

Electroencephalogram signals are time-varying complex electrophysiological signals. Existing studies show that approximate entropy, which is a nonlinear dynamics index, is not an ideal method for electroencephalogram analysis. Clinical electroencephalogram measurements usually contain electrical interference signals, creating additional challenges in terms of maintaining robustness of the analytic methods. There is an urgent need for a novel method of nonlinear dynamical analysis of the electroencephalogram that can characterize seizure-related changes in cerebral dynamics. The aim of this paper was to study the fluctuations of approximate entropy in preictal, ictal, and postictal electroencephalogram signals from a patient with absence seizures, and to improve the algorithm used to calculate the approximate entropy. The approximate entropy algorithm, especially our modified version, could accurately describe the dynamical changes of the brain during absence seizures. We could also demonstrate that the complexity of the brain was greater in the normal state than in the ictal state. The fluctuations of the approximate entropy before epileptic seizures observed in this study can form a good basis for further study on the prediction of seizures with nonlinear dynamics.