An international group of scientists has created a device that can save the patient from overdose opioids. The principle of operation of the gadget is described in the journal Scientific Reports.
Specialists from Canada and the United States created a wearable gadget, which in real time analyzes the concentration of opioids in the blood and prevents overdose. In case of exceeding the deadly dose, the device will introduce naloxone into blood. This antidote is used in opioid overdoses, first of all, heroin.
Scientists compared the operation of the gadget with an insulin pump, which is put on the stomach and is used in the therapy of continuous subcutaneous injection of insulin. The prototype of the device, which can potentially save the life to patients, is equipped with an accelerometer for measuring the respiratory frequency and the processor that analyzes the vital activity of the carrier.
The device was tested with the participation of 20 volunteers who had previously not taken opioids. Study participants were to imitate signs of overdose, delaying breathing and stopping the movement for 15 seconds. The gadget was supposed to enter antidote into their blood. After simulating the attacks, blood samples were taken, with the help of which scientists found out that the device correctly calculated doses of naloxone.
“Opioid epidemic aggravated during a pandemic and continues to be a serious public health crisis,” said the lead author of the study and Dr. Washington University Justin Chan.
In mid-November, it became known that an anti-record of deaths from drug use was installed in the United States. The overdose of drugs was the cause of more than 100 thousand people per year.