FusionXNet: enhancing EEG-based seizure prediction with integrated convolutional and Transformer architectures

<i>Objective</i>. Effective seizure prediction can reduce patient burden, improve clinical treatment accuracy, and lower healthcare costs. However, existing deep learning-based seizure prediction methods primarily rely on single models, which have limitations in feature extraction. This study aims to develop a hybrid model that integrates the advantages of convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and Transformer to enhance seizure prediction performance.<i>Approach</i>. We propose FusionXNet, a hybrid model inspired by CNNs and Transformer architectures, for seizure prediction. Specifically, we design a token synthesis unit to extract local features using convolution operations and capture global electroencephalography (EEG) representations via attention mechanisms. By merging local and global features extracted from the EEG segments, FusionXNet enhances feature representations, which are subsequently fed into a classifier for final seizure prediction.<i>Main results</i>. We evaluate the model on the publicly available Boston Children's Hospital and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology dataset, conducting segment-based and event-based experiments in both patient-specific and cross-patient settings. In event-based patient-specific experiments, FusionXNet achieves a sensitivity of 97.602% and a false positive rate (FPR) of 0.059 h^-1. The results demonstrate that the proposed model effectively predicts seizures with high sensitivity and a low FPR, outperforming existing methods.<i>Significance</i>. The proposed FusionXNet model provides a robust and efficient approach for seizure prediction by leveraging both local and global feature extraction. The high sensitivity and low FPR indicate its potential for real-world clinical applications, improving patient management and reducing healthcare costs.