Is the cure for drug overdoses under your skin?
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
Opioid abuse is a huge national problem. When things take a turn for the worst – we’re talking overdoses – quick help can make all the difference.
Joanna Ciatti and team at Northwestern University developed an implant to treat opioid overdose.
They designed it to detect major signs of overdose, like a ten percent drop in blood oxygen. Within twenty five seconds, the implant calls for help and administers crucial medication. What’s cool is that it responds just as fast as an on-site emergency responder.
For people recovering from opioid addiction, this implant could be life-saving.
As could just quitting, but… we only have a minute. Topic for another day.
Reference: Ciatti, J. L., Vazquez-Guardado, A., Brings, V. E., Park, J., Ruyle, B., Ober, R. A., McLuckie, A. J., Talcott, M. R., Carter, E. A., Burrell, A. R., Sponenburg, R. A., Trueb, J., Gupta, P., Kim, J., Avila, R., Seong, M., Slivicki, R. A., Kaplan, M. A., Villalpando-Hernandez, B., Massaly, N., … Rogers, J. A. (2024). An Autonomous Implantable Device for the Prevention of Death from Opioid Overdose. Sci. Adv.10,eadr3567(2024).DOI:10.1126/sciadv.adr3567