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Tag: safety
03/23/2023

Spotting Opioid Overdoses Before They Happen, With AI

Article Excerpt: A Stony Brook University computer professor with an AI algorithm that detects substance abuse through language has refocused the impressive prediction technology on opioids – with startling results. Associate Computer Science Professor H. Andrew Schwartz is the senior author of a new study detailing the use of artificial intelligence to predict opioid mortalities. The work builds on Schwartz’s earlier success identifying high- and low-risk alcohol abuse via an AI application that interpreted language used in Facebook posts. This time, Schwartz and four other authors – including lead author Matthew Matero, an SBU computer-science student, and National Institute on Drug Abuse Data Scientist Salvatore Giorgi – hope to create some desperately needed “location-specific aid for the U.S. opioid crisis,” according to the abstract of an article published last week by the peer-reviewed open-access journal Npj Digital Medicine.

Full Article: https://tinyurl.com/6m4jwpd4

Article Source: Innovate LI

01/06/2023

Deep Learning Algorithm Can Hear Alcohol in Voice

Article Excerpt: La Trobe University researchers have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm that could work alongside expensive and potentially biased breath testing devices in pubs and clubs. The technology can instantly determine whether a person has exceeded the legal alcohol limit purely on using a 12-seconds recording of their voice.

Full Article: https://tinyurl.com/4uhjh4kn

Article Source: Neuroscience News

09/06/2022

Expanded Telehealth Helped Patients Treated for Opioid Use Disorder in COVID-19 Pandemic

Article Excerpt: Expanding telehealth services for opioid use disorder (OUD) can help keep patients in treatment longer and reduce risks of overdosing. The findings were part of a new study that compared telehealth usage for 105,240 OUD patients before the COVID-19 pandemic and for 70,538 who began treatment during the pandemic. At that time, federal regulators supported broader use of telehealth services and relaxed policies on prescribing methadone and buprenorphine for OUD treatment, said the study published Aug. 31 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Full Article: https://tinyurl.com/yeyjntd3

Article Source: Medical Economics

06/09/2022

Wearable Device Would Identify, Treat Potential Opioid Overdose

Article Excerpt: A wearable patch under development by Indiana University (IU) researchers would detect opioid-related respiratory depression, and even administer rescue medication in real time before an individual experiences a potentially deadly opioid overdose. Monitored through a smartphone, sensors on the small patch detect physiologic changes outside of accepted parameters (blood oxygen level, blood pressure, pulse rate and respiratory rate) that indicate an opioid overdose is imminent.

Full Article: https://tinyurl.com/2rfncxdb

Article Source: Pain Medicine News

06/01/2022

New App Connects Opioid Overdose Witnesses to Narcan Responder

Article Excerpt: South Bend will be the first city in the country to pilot an app aimed at saving overdose victims. The idea began with two students at Ivy Tech and is being run by a former Elkhart teacher. Seconds matter with overdoses… and less than half of bystanders call 911. A new app hopes to save lives, by taking away the fear of calling police.

Full Article: https://tinyurl.com/358sc877

Article Source: WSBT

04/18/2022

OSU Students Create App to Report ‘Bad Batches’, Cut Down on Overdose Deaths

Article Excerpt: In the fall of 2020, a group led by Ohio State students launched an app designed to cut down on overdose deaths in central Ohio. The app alerts users to “bad batches” of drugs, laced with deadly substances such as fentanyl. The team is currently working on a revamped new version of the app they hope will make it even easier to report bad drugs and prevent overdoses.

Full Article: https://tinyurl.com/yc5vyrfv

Article Source: WOSU Public Media

03/02/2022

What Euphoria Gets Right—and Wrong—About Teen Drug Use and Addiction

Article Excerpt: The show (Euphoria) has sparked controversy over how it portrays teen drug use. In January, D.A.R.E.—the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program—criticized the show for “glorify[ing]” high school drug use and making it seem “common and widespread in today’s world.” But drug use is not uncommon among high school students today. In the U.S., about 1.6 million kids ages 12 to 17—6.3% of the adolescent population—had substance use disorder in 2020, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). “That’s a huge problem,” says Dr. Lynn Fiellin, professor of medicine at the Yale School of Medicine and Child Study Center, who is trained in addiction medicine and behavioral health (and who is a fan of the show). The problem seems to be growing, too; in 2020, millions more kids tried drugs for the first time. “Euphoria depicts exactly what is going on,” she says.

Full Article: https://tinyurl.com/4dszsv8b

Article Source: Time

02/07/2022

Study Finds Unexpected Benefits of ‘Drug Checking’ Programs

Article Excerpt: A recent study has found that so-called “drug checking” programs have unexpected benefits, allowing public health programs to reach and work with people who use drugs who would otherwise not access services such as HIV testing. Drug checking refers to analyzing illegal drugs, or prescription drugs not acquired from a pharmacy, that people have used or are about to use. There are various technologies available for drug checking, but the ultimate goal is to reduce overdoses and other health risks associated with an increasingly contaminated illicit drug supply.

Full Article: https://tinyurl.com/3hcj2ruw

Article Source: NC State News

12/16/2021

Smartphone Apps Could Help Reduce Alcohol Consumption Among College-Age Drinkers

Article Excerpt: Smartphone apps to track blood alcohol abound, but until now had little evidence to show they help manage drinking in young adults. A new University of Florida study shows that heavy drinkers age 21-25 who weren’t trying to cut back on alcohol reduced their drinking by four and a half drinks per week while using the apps -; nearly one drink less on each day they imbibed… In the study, published in the journal Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, participants tested three smartphone-based interventions: a Bluetooth breathalyzer paired with an app to measure blood alcohol, an app that estimates blood alcohol based on input from the user, or, in the control condition, sent a text to themselves each time they had a drink.

Full Article: https://tinyurl.com/ycku3e5d

Article Source: News Medical Life Sciences