Device cancels the overdose of opioids by the automatic administration of naloxone

Researchers at Purdue University are developing a device that can automatically detect an overdose and deliver naloxone, which reverses the deadly effects.

The device would not require anyone to know that he had an overdose or self-injected naloxone, and could keep a person stable enough long enough for the services to be performed. emergency, the researchers say.

According to the Ministry of Health and Social Services, nearly 130 people die every day in the United States from overdoses of opioid-related drugs.

The Purdue team has developed a wearable device designed to detect when a person's breathing rate drops to a certain level, then release naloxone, which prevents the opioid from binding to brain receptors.

Currently, the device is an armband that attaches to a magnetic field generator, connected to a portable battery worn at the hip. An EKG sensor similar to a sticker on the skin measures the rate of respiration; when the rate is too low, the sensor activates the generator to heat a drug capsule in the body, which releases naloxone in 10 seconds.

The researchers plan to pre-inject the drug capsule under the skin in an outpatient setting. Thus, the system would automatically deliver naloxone to the patient during an overdose, approximately one hour before relapse.

This extra hour would give emergency services enough time to bring the patient to the hospital, say the researchers. The capsule also provides a higher dose of naloxone than the currently available products, making it more effective in delaying relapses and less expensive to manufacture.

The device does not work automatically yet, but in vitro and in vivo experiments show that the configuration successfully detects a low breathing rate from ECG signals and releases naloxone

Since the submission of their work for publication, in the Journal of controlled release, the researchers reduced the size of the generator and the battery to reduce the volume. They also plan to install a communication system in the device that would automatically alert emergency services in case of patient overdose.

This technology could be used to deliver drugs other than naloxone. For example, allergic people need epinephrine immediately, and such a device could eliminate the need for a spike pen, scientists say.

Source: EurekAlert !, July 25, 2019