Limitations (Technical and Legal)
Welcome to SeizAware. Our software application is designed to act as an assistive digital monitoring tool. However, due to the inherent complexities of neurological events, hardware architectures, and operating system restraints, there are critical technical and legal limitations you must fully understand before using our services.
CRITICAL NOTICE: SeizAware cannot and does not guarantee the detection of any seizure. The app must never be used as a replacement for professional medical supervision, prescribed diagnostic monitoring, or traditional human caretaking protocols.
1. Probability of Seizure Detection
Seizures are highly unpredictable neurological occurrences that manifest differently in every individual. Because of this variation, there is no 100% guarantee of seizure detection. The probability of the app accurately recognizing a seizure depends heavily on algorithmic matching, sensor responsiveness, and physical movement styles.
- False Negatives (Undetected Seizures): The app may fail to detect a seizure event. Users and caregivers must not rely on the app as a primary safety mechanism to prevent injury or death.
- False Positives (False Alarms): The app may mistake rigorous, repetitive everyday motions (such as brushing teeth, clapping, or using certain tools) for a seizure event and trigger an unintended alert.
2. Scope of Detection (Specific Seizure Types Only)
SeizAware functions by analyzing kinetic data from wearable hardware. Consequently, the application is strictly limited by the type of movements it can register:
- Convulsive Seizures Only: The application is specifically optimized to detect and alert for generalized tonic-clonic seizures (historically known as "grand mal" seizures) that involve sustained, repetitive, and rhythmic limb movements—specifically hand and arm movements where the wearable device is securely attached.
- Undetectable Events: The app cannot detect non-convulsive seizures, absence seizures (petit mal), focal aware or impaired awareness seizures without large motor components, atonic seizures (drop attacks), or any seizure that does not generate the explicit physical motion patterns required by the app's detection algorithms.
3. Technical & Environmental Dependencies
For SeizAware to initiate and successfully deliver an alert, an unbroken chain of external technological prerequisites must be maintained. A failure in any of the following points will result in a failure to deliver an alarm:
System Requirements & Failure Points:
- Hardware Fit: The paired smartwatch/wearable device must be turned on, sufficiently charged, and fitted properly to the specific limb experiencing the convulsive movement.
- Bluetooth Connectivity: A continuous, uninterrupted Bluetooth connection must exist between the wearable sensor and the user's smartphone.
- Operating System Limitations: Smartphone operating systems (iOS/Android) frequently update battery-saving settings. If background app refresh, motion/sensor access, or battery optimizations are incorrectly configured, the operating system may force-close the SeizAware app without warning.
- Network and Cellular Services: The transmission of emergency alerts (SMS, phone calls, or push notifications) requires an active internet or cellular data connection. If the smartphone is in an area with poor cell reception, dead zones, or disabled network services, your designated emergency contacts will not receive the notification.
4. Legal Disclaimer: Not a Medical Device
SeizAware is an informational and assistive alert software. It is not a medical device. It has not been reviewed, cleared, or approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the European Medicines Agency (EMA), or any other regulatory medical body. It is not intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of epilepsy or any other medical condition.
5. Limitation of Liability
To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, SeizAware, its developers, founders, and affiliates shall not be held liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or exemplary damages. This includes, but is not limited to, damages for personal injury, illness, worsening of medical conditions, wrongful death, or financial losses resulting from:
- The failure of the application to detect, log, or notify contacts of an active seizure event.
- Any delays, dropouts, or failures of network providers or hardware manufacturers to transmit alert data.
- Unintended distress or costs resulting from false alarms.
- Reliance on the app's data for medical decisions without consulting a qualified medical practitioner.