Researchers at Purdue University have designed a wearable device that can detect an opioid overdose and trigger the release of an antidote.
The Wearable Opioid Antidote Device comprises a sticker-like sensor on the chest to measure the user's ECG, or heart rate, and a magnetic-field generator strapped to the arm, as well as a capsule of an antidote drug.
The device is designed to stabilise the user in 10 seconds, giving those who overdose alone or are left incapacitated enough time to receive medical attention.
When drug users overdose on opioid painkillers, the drugs bind to brain receptors that regulate breathing, which in turn causes a person to hyperventilate and die.
The Wearable Opioid Antidote Device includes a capsule (also pictured top) that releases an antidote to opioid overdoses under the skin Researchers at the university in West Lafayette, Indiana, developed the system to include the wearable sensor that tracks a low respiration rate incurred by overdose. When it detects the change in breathing, a capsule of naloxone ? the drug used to treat narcotic overdoses in emergency situations ? is released under the skin.
"The idea is to be able to measure the rate of respiration using a wearable sensor and then be able to use that as a threshold to trigger the release of the antidote that's going to be implanted underneath the skin," said Hyowon Lee, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Purdue.
"This approach is unique for opioid overdose...