FDA Approves Wearable to Combat Opioid Withdrawals

A new wearable device designed to help reduce opioid withdrawal symptoms in patients who are not using narcotics has received the green light from the FDA, according to an announcement from the manufacturer.

DyAnsys said its auricular neurostimulation device, Drug Relief, inserts small needles into a patient’s ear and then transmits electrical pulses, which ease symptoms such as anxiety, depression, nausea, agitation, and even cravings for opioids. Entering the throes of opioid withdrawal is a prospect so unappealing that it sometimes keeps patients from undergoing detox or seeking help.

>> READ: Rise of the Anti-Opioid Algorithm

But Srini Nageshwar, CEO of DyAnsys, said his company’s wearable device “offers hope” to these individuals.

“We are in a full-blown crisis, and we need non-narcotic options and alternatives like this that can make a significant difference for individual patients and their families,” Nageshwar said in a statement.

More than 2.5 million people in the US are battling opioid use disorder, a public health crisis that has consumed nearly every corner of the country, according to the National Institutes on Drug Abuse.

For patients who choose to enter recovery, detox is typically the first step, and that often entails the use of narcotics. But DyAnsys hailed Drug Relief as a “non-addictive” means for patients to undergo this challenge without consuming any other drugs.

Drug Relief delivers neurostimulation treatment over 120 hours, or 5 days, enabling continuous nerve stimulation, according to the company. DyAnsys claimed that providers said patients could see lessened symptoms in as little as 30 minutes after beginning to use Drug Relief.

DyAnsys has also developed technologies that treat chronic pain without narcotics and provide monitoring of the autonomic nervous system.

This is just the latest high-tech weapon to enter the fight against opioids. As we detailed in a cover story earlier this year, stakeholders across the healthcare spectrum have looked to big data, artificial intelligence, and other cutting-edge technologies to curb a crisis that has gripped the country. Wearable devices that are similar to DyAnsys’s Drug Relief have also been on the market for some time.

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