ClinicalTrials.gg
RecruitingNCT05725174VIBESUpdated Dec 6, 2024

Volatile Non-Invasive Biomarkers of Epileptic Seizures

An observational study in Epilepsy and Non-Epileptic Seizure, sponsored by University College London Hospitals. Recruiting at 2 sites in United Kingdom. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2024-12-06.

Sponsored by University College London Hospitals · Observational

From the registry’s dates

  • Primary completion was expected by Oct 2025, 1 year 1 month ago, but the record still lists the study as recruiting.
  • Started Jan 2023; still recruiting 3 years 9 months later.
Study type
Observational
Model
Cohort
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
270
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Breath and sweat samples will be collected from people who have been admitted to hospital after a potential seizure and analysed by the team. The researchers then hope to identify a pattern of small molecules that can distinguish seizures from other events, and perhaps determine the severity of the seizure.

Read the detailed description

Determining whether someone has had an epileptic seizure, or another event, can be challenging and result in the wrong diagnosis. A 'seizure test' used after the event would therefore be very helpful.

Researchers have used small molecules released from the body in breath and sweat to detect cancers and other diseases; this study will determine whether a similar method can be used to detect whether someone has had an epileptic seizure.

02

Conditions studied

  • Epilepsy
  • Non-Epileptic Seizure
03

In context

Epilepsy

1,848 studies on the registry are indexed under Epilepsy; 422 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 270 is above the median of 112 across 540 observational studies indexed under Epilepsy.

Browse Epilepsy studies →

Lead sponsor

University College London Hospitals is the lead sponsor of 62 studies on the registry; 8 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No
Sampling method
Non-probability sample

Study population

People with a diagnosis of epileptic or non-epileptic seizures

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  1. Patients who have been admitted to either University College London's Queen's Square EEG-telemetry unit or Chalfont Centre for Epilepsy, for diagnosis of seizure events.
  2. Patients aged 18 years or above

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Patients with active infection or who have taken antibiotics within 4 weeks
  2. Patients on medications
  3. Patients with co-morbidities preventing breath collection
  4. Patients unable to provide .
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(2)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Immunosuppression

A weakened immune system. It can come from an illness, such as HIV or some blood cancers, or from medicines that turn the immune system down, for example after an organ transplant or for an autoimmune disease; steroids at higher doses count.

Read whether the line is about a condition or about medicines, and which medicines and doses it means.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

05

Study design

Observational model
Cohort
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
270 participants (estimated)
Patient registry
No

Interventions

  • OtherSample Collection

    Patients will have breath samples collected by blowing into a bag, and sweat samples collected by gauze. These samples will be collected at various timepoints whilst the patients are admitted on the ward.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Distinguishing epileptic from non-epileptic seizures

    To distinguish epileptic from non-epileptic seizures with the detection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in breath and sebum samples.

    Time frame: 3 years

07

Study locations

2 of 2 sites recruiting
  • Chalfont Centre for Epilepsy
    London, Buckinghamshire SL9 0RJ, United Kingdom
    Recruiting
  • National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery
    London, WC1N 3BG, United Kingdom
    Recruiting
    • Grace Luff, MSc · Contact07443415438
    • Matthew Walker, MB BChir FRCP · Contact
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Undecided — If necessary, anonymised data will be shared with other researchers in a case by case scenario. For anonymised data to be shared with commercial entities, a research contract will need to be evaluated.

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Dec 6, 2024, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT05725174
Lead sponsor
University College London Hospitals
Responsible party
Eleonora Lugara (Dr, University College London Hospitals) — Principal investigator
First posted
Feb 13, 2023
Start date
Jan 30, 2023
Primary completion
Oct 1, 2025 (estimated)
Completion
Nov 1, 2026 (estimated)
Last update
Dec 6, 2024

Study contacts

Eleonora Lugara, PhD
Contact
e.lugara@ucl.ac.uk
02031089108
Grace Luff, MSc
Contact
g.luff@ucl.ac.uk
Matthew Walker, MB BChir FRCP
principal investigator · Professor

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Interested in this study?

Eligibility is decided by the study team. Share this record with your doctor or contact the team directly.

Contact study team

Follow this study

Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.

Sign in to follow

Discussion

Questions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.

Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.

Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.

Start the discussion