A wearable device could protect soldiers from attacks from fast-acting chemical agents, by automatically injecting the antidote as soon as it鈥檚 needed.
The US Army project comprises two elements. The first is a wearable monitor that checks the user for opioid intoxication, the second is a device that automatically injects the antidote. The aim is that it will be able to distinguish between opioids and other agents, such as nerve gasses, which require different antidotes.
Previously soldiers have been issued with autoinjectors, spring-loaded syringes, to treat themselves or others, but modern opioid incapacitants, such as fentanyl, can act too quickly for these to be viable.
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The injector will be a pen-sized device worn next to the skin, with a requirement to fit comfortably underneath military protective gear. It may be triggered automatically, manually or even remotely.
Malcom Dando at the University of Bradford, says that the devices will need to monitor a range of physiological responses, to positively identify the agent involved and administer the antidote rapidly before serious damage is done. While each of these steps may be possible, getting the whole system to work reliably is not going to be simple in practice, he says.
The subsystems will be designed and tested over the next year, to be followed by an evaluation and refinement phase. If successful, the technology may be developed to automatically treat other types of chemical agent.
