Opioid overdose detection using smartphones | Science Translational Medicine

Opioid overdose detection using smartphones | Science Translational Medicine

Smartphone software aims to detect early signs of overdose

THE SOFTWARE MONITORS FOR OPIOID OVERDOSES. (R. NANDAKUMAR ET. AL / SCIENCE TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE)

Researchers have come up with smartphone software designed to detect the earliest signs of an opioid overdose, such as changes in breathing or movement.

• The details: The software taps into a phone’s speaker and microphone to send out acoustic signals that bounce off a person’s body and then back to the phone.
• The findings: The researchers tested the software in a supervised injection facility in Canada where 194 participants injected heroin, fentanyl, or morphine. It detected 98 percent of cases of apnea after injection and 89 percent of incidents of slowed breathing. The software also detected 19 of 20 “simulated overdose events" with anesthesia given in an operating room.
• The caveats: It's not clear how, exactly, the software might be used in practice — a person using drugs would need to have the app on and their phone outside of their pockets and close by. It still needs to be studied more to tackle those issues, among other questions.