Credit: DEA
A bioengineer at Indiana University is levering artificial intelligence (AI) in the fight against opioid use disorder. Thanks to a nearly $4 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Feng Guo is developing a wearable device that can not only detect an opioid overdose in real-time, but also treat/reverse it.
Originally, Guo was using his engineering background to design a concept device for automatic drug release. When Guo mentioned his project to his colleague Ken Mackie, from the department of psychological and brain sciences, Mackie saw even more potential.
“In addition to patients taking opioids under a physician's care, we hope that this device might be beneficial for individuals with an opioid use disorder who are at risk for respiratory depression following an opioid overdose,” said Mackie, who is also the chair of the Gill Center for Biomolecular Science at Indiana University.
According to the researchers, the dual-function patch is roughly the size of a nicotine patch and has sensors that measure blood oxygen level, respiratory rate, pulse rate and blood pressure. Artificial intelligence helps determine whether a person is at risk of developing respiratory depression before blood oxygen levels drop below a certain threshold. If the wearable determines the risk of respiratory depression is high, naloxone will release directly through the patch.
The $4 million grant over three years will be used to train the device’s algorithm to differentiate between conditions in the body changing due to an imminent opioid overdose versus a spike in pulse rate and blood pressure from something like exercise. While naloxone is typically not harmful if administered by mistake, an accidental dose could cause unpleasant withdrawal symptoms in some opioid-dependent individuals.
"AI really leverages the power of the sensor and the device to enable a convenient, personalized therapy method," said Guo.
Guo and Mackie are working with Greg Terman and Jake Sunshine, both anesthesiologists and pain physicians from the University of Washington, to collect physiological data from people taking opioids under a physician's care, as well as those with an opioid use disorder who are being monitored.
News of this project was released just one day before the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) published provisional data showing a 15% increase in drug overdose deaths in 2021 compared with 2020. The CDC estimates there were 107,622 drug overdose deaths in the United States during 2021, compared with 93,655 deaths estimated in 2020. Additionally, the data indicates overdose deaths from synthetic opioids (primarily fentanyl), psychostimulants such as methamphetamine, and cocaine increased from 2020 to 2021.
“These data represent another devastating milestone in the overdose epidemic in America,” said NIDA director Nora Volkow. “Compounding the tragedy, we have underused tools that could help many people. Overdoses can be prevented, and substance use disorders can be treated We must meet people where they are to prevent overdoses, reduce harm, and connect people to proven treatments to reduce drug use.”
Rahul Gupta, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), called the accelerating pace of overdose deaths “unacceptable,” and pointed to the hopeful success of President Joe Biden’s new National Drug Control Strategy—which includes expanding access to naloxone.