Clinical Utility and Feasibility of Smartphone-based EEG in Kenya: A Multicenter Observational Study
arXiv preprint · 2026
Nomin Enkhtsetseg, William Lehn-Schiøler, Anton Mosquera Storgaard, Magnus Guldberg Pedersen, Dylan Rice, George Wambugu, Nshimiyimana Jules Fidele, Melita Cacic Hribljan, Anca Alina Arbune, Sidsel Armand Larsen, Sandor Beniczky, Farrah J. Mateen
Summary
3,036 EEG sessions were collected across 29 clinical sites in Kenya using smartphone-based acquisition hardware operated by non-specialist staff. 96% of recordings were interpretable; the remaining 4% failed primarily because of electrode impedance or insufficient duration. Of the interpretable recordings, 30.2% were abnormal — 76.4% of those showed epileptiform features. The result is direct evidence that point-of-care neurodiagnostics can be delivered outside specialist centers when the hardware footprint shrinks far enough.
Why it matters
Making EEG accessible and economically viable across the globe will help millions of people who would otherwise have nowhere to turn to in case of brain dissease. We’ve shown that it is possible to do in Kenya and these tools could be used much more widely across the African continent.