First US Clinical Trial for An In-Brain Chip that Can Fight Opioid Addiction Now Underway

November 20, 2019 – – Opioid addiction is currently one of the biggest healthcare issues being faced by the United States, with around 130 people dying every day because of an opioid-related overdose.

To help create more mitigating solutions, a team of medical researchers working at the West Virginia University Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute (RNI) teamed up with researchers from the West Virginia University Medicine (WVU). The researchers are beginning clinical trials for a solution that uses brain-embedded technology that can potentially curb opioid addiction.

The in-brain chip will be used in cases that have resisted other methods of addiction treatment.

Neurosurgeons from RNI and WBU have successfully implanted what is being referred to as a “deep brain stimulation” device, or DBS device, into the brain of 33-year old Jared Buckhalter. Buckhalter is the first person to participate in the trial.

The DBS device consists of a number of tiny electrodes that are attached to specific parts of the brain associated with addiction and self-control behaviors. In theory, the DBS should be able to curb addiction as related impulses are sent. It should also monitor cravings in real-time in the patient, providing valuable data to researchers about what is happening in cases of treatment-resistant opioid addiction.

During the trial, researchers ask Buckhalter a series of questions that help guide their adjustments to the DBS implant.

The RNI and WBU trial will initially include four participants—all of whom have undergone thorough courses of addiction treatment across a number of programs and yet continue to suffer from addiction. The team involved has extensive experience working with DBS in FDA-approved treatment of other disorders such as obsessive-compulsive disorder and epilepsy. The DBS is considered a last-resort approach, and only if the clinical trial produces positive results. It can potentially help the most serious of cases when all other options are exhausted.

Just recently, WVU successfully performed the state’s first heart transplant.

Opioid addiction resulted in as many as 49.6 deaths per 100,000 people in West Virginia in 2017, according to the WVU. This is the highest rate of opioid-related deaths in the US. While other treatment options are definitely available—and most of them are less invasive—chronic sufferers are still in constant danger of overdose. Still, drug detox and therapy in an inpatient setting is still the preferred method of addiction treatment.

Opioid alternatives that provide pain relief are also helpful in terms of avoiding addiction altogether.

However, for existing sufferers, especially for opioid patients for whom other treatments have not proven effective, a high-tech approach like DBS might be the only viable course.

If someone in the family is struggling with drug or alcohol addiction, it is important to seek help. A combination of medical detox and behavioral therapy can go a long way in the fight against drug abuse. But because every individual is affected by addiction differently, a comprehensive program tailored to their specific needs is necessary. Look for a nearby addiction treatment facility today and find out how drug treatment programs work.

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