A dozen high-tech ideas for fighting the opioid crisis have each been awarded $200,000 from Ohio’s Third Frontier fund. The winners were picked in a contest that Gov. John Kasich proposed, and there’s still a final round of cash to come.
The concepts include apps connecting people to treatment and wraparound services, a screening test for health care providers, and equipment to help with opioid withdrawal. Brian Carrico with Indiana-based Innovation Health Solutions created a device that blocks brain signals that trigger withdrawal symptoms by over 80 percent.
“This technology brings them out of withdrawal in less than an hour and allows them to go the next five days very comfortably so they can move into treatment and recovery,” he said.
Abraham Joy is an associate professor at the University of Akron, which developed a polymer for law enforcement to detect deadly fentanyl and carfentil.
“We are envisioning this to be a product that an officer can wear as gloves, and then by swiping down the surface, it will change color,” Joy said.
The next round of winners – each getting a million dollars – will be announced a year from now.
