GUILD ASSOCIATES INC — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: A18-142

Description

Opioids are a class of potent analgesics used for both pain relief and their euphoric effects. The range of effective doses stretches across multiple orders of magnitude, down to micrograms per individual for a lethal dose. With such low doses causing significant intoxication, it is crucial to identify novel markers and means to monitor for opioid exposure both on the battlefield (opioid chemical threat) and in civilian settings (opioid epidemic crisis). Guild proposes to develop a wearable noninvasive opioid detector (OpioAert™), capable of rapidly (<5 min) alerting of opioid intoxication at the point-of-need over a period of at least 10 days, without user intervention, by passively monitoring a soldier’s blood for: 1) opioid and/or metabolites concentrations = clinical intoxication level; 2) respiratory depression with at least 4 clinical signs, prior to outward and observable clinical symptoms. OpioAert™ will improve outcomes based on trigger-to-treat or trigger-to-test by constant monitoring (24/7) and rapid alert of intoxication (<5 min) prior to outward clinical symptoms. OpioAert™ will be securely fitted to the soldier’s body allowing for constant data collection during all battlefield operation. Battery life will be at least 10 days to allow monitoring during the 8-day deployment without requiring external power sources.