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. 2023;2(1):2240375.
doi: 10.1080/28324765.2023.2240375. Epub 2023 Aug 1.

Digital Biomarker Applications Across the Spectrum of Opioid Use Disorder

Marc Rigatti  1 , Brittany Chapman  1 , Peter R Chai  2 , David Smelson  3 , Kavita Babu  1 , Stephanie Carreiro  1
Affiliations

Digital Biomarker Applications Across the Spectrum of Opioid Use Disorder

Marc Rigatti et al. Cogent Ment Health. 2023.

Abstract

Opioid use disorder (OUD) is one of the most pressing public health problems of the past decade, with over eighty thousand overdose related deaths in 2021 alone. Digital technologies to measure and respond to disease states encompass both on- and off-body sensors. Such devices can be used to detect and monitor end-user physiologic or behavioral measurements (i.e. digital biomarkers) that correlate with events of interest, health, or pathology. Recent work has demonstrated the potential of digital biomarkers to be used as a tools in the prevention, risk mitigation, and treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD). Multiple physiologic adaptations occur over the course of opioid use, and represent potential targets for digital biomarker based monitoring strategies. This review explores the current evidence (and potential) for digital biomarkers monitoring across the spectrum of opioid use. Technologies to detect opioid administration, withdrawal, hyperalgesia and overdose will be reviewed. Driven by empirically derived algorithms, these technologies have important implications for supporting the safe prescribing of opioids, reducing harm in active opioid users, and supporting those in recovery from OUD.

Keywords: addiction; digital biomarker; opioid use disorder; opioid withdrawal; wearable sensors.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Interests The author reports no conflicts of interest in this work.

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