What If Overdose Could Be Detected Like a Heart Attack?
Our research team has developed a laboratory model where we can safely observe heroin-induced respiratory depression in real time. Under carefully controlled conditions, with volunteer participants already prescribed heroin for treatment, we can measure breathing, oxygen levels, and motion while they self-administer their heroin.
The findings are eye-opening: respiratory arrest can occur without visible distress, sometimes for up to a minute, unnoticed by the person themselves.
That’s where wearable technology comes in. Devices like chest sensors, smart rings, or watches, already used to monitor sleep or heart health, can be adapted to detect the tell-tale signs of overdose. We're currently testing whether a new wearable device— Pneumowave’s chest sensor—can reliably recognise patterns of breathing (or the lack of it) that signal an emergency. If they can, they could automatically alert a family member, outreach worker, or ambulance, just like fall alerts for older adults.
Motion Signatures and Naloxone Carriage: Meeting People Where They Are
Another surprising innovation? Detecting injecting behaviour through unique motion patterns. Using accelerometers, we can recognise the specific movements involved in preparing and administering a drug injection. This could be used not to monitor in a punitive way, but to build smart, respectful alert systems that activate only when truly needed or perhaps to trigger an interrupting text message to avert breakdown of a New Year’s resolution.
And what about naloxone, the medication that reverses an overdose?
Although widely recommended, real-world usage remains a challenge. People may be trained and willing, but if they don’t carry it, it can’t help. Current kits are bulky and don’t pass what we call the “ jeans pocket test”: if it doesn’t fit in your pocket, it won’t be there when you need it.
That’s why we’re working on a wafer-thin naloxone strip, small enough to slide into your wallet or phone case. Early feedback from people who use drugs, frontline workers, and families has been positive. In fact, over 85% of participants in a recent survey said they’d feel comfortable carrying and using the buccal wafer, compared to just 25% for injectable naloxone.
Breaking the Cycle
Technology alone won’t solve this crisis. But by designing tools that are discreet, intuitive, and developed with lived experience, we can create systems that genuinely support people.
These innovations also offer new ways to engage people with services. If a wearable device tells someone they've had multiple apnoeic (non-breathing) episodes during drug use, that insight might prompt a life-changing conversation with a clinician or support worker. The data could even be used anonymously to improve public health responses.
Reimagining Overdose Response
The opioid crisis is complex, but part of the solution lies in simple, thoughtful design. It's about recognising that overdose often happens not in clinical settings, but in homes, hostels, or on the street, and that most of the time, crucially, someone else is there. Equipping that someone, be it a peer, a parent, or a passer-by, with the right tools, right there in the moment, can mean the difference between life and death. This means that we’re no longer only asking if we can improve overdose response but we’re showing how it can be done.