Toxicologist Stephanie Carreiro, MD, assistant professor of emergency medicine, investigates how wearable technology could play a critical role in helping to address the nation’s opioid crisis.
“Having a firsthand view of this devastating disease and really kind of putting a face to the epidemic has been the motivating force behind the research that I do,” said Dr. Carreiro , in a new Voices of UMassMed podcast.
Carreiro and her team have been analyzing data collected from a portable wrist sensor, worn in multiple studies involving participants with and without opioid-use disorder. By constantly recording movement and physiological changes in volunteers with opioid-use disorders, Carreiro said researchers are hoping to develop interventions for patients and even help identify those who might be at risk for opioid misuse.
“The idea is really to understand what’s happening with that person in that moment and deliver interventions that will help either prevent them from developing an addiction or in the case of someone in recovery, help keep them in recovery in a way that’s most meaningful to them,” she said.
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