Non-intrusive detection of temporary neurologic impairment by opioids

Zxerex Corporation, Scottsdale AZ

Investigators

Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY With the exception of the Breathalyzer for alcohol, there is currently no available technology that can immediately identify neurologic impairment related to the use of licit or illicit drugs. The illicit use of opioids in particular currently represents a nation-wide health crisis, with an estimated 11.4 million Americans misusing opioids in 2017. The presently available methods for detecting opioids, which rely upon analysis of urine, blood, saliva, or hair, are expensive, time-consuming to implement, and can take days to deliver actionable information to meet the ?fitness-for-duty? concerns of employers as well as the needs for immediate detection of drug use detection in the drug rehabilitation and public safety fields. Therefore, there is a clear unmet need for an inexpensive, non-invasive, rapid, and actionable method for determining whether a person is impaired due to use of drugs. Zxerex Corporation is seeking to solve this problem by identifying a biometric ?signature? consistent with the use of and impairment by prescription opioids. Our confidence in the potential for success using this approach is based on our prior experience with the development of signatures for the detection of fatigue and marijuana use. The approach we take allows us to analyze a constellation of oculomotor kinematics through the measurement of involuntary microsaccadic events in the eyes. We have taken these prior studies and moved towards the productization of a solution that measures the state of a subject and compares the measurement outcomes against these various signatures with accuracy and repeatability as a means of determining fitness for duty. Our proposed research is intended to develop a non-invasive means of identifying temporary neurological impairment resulting from the use of prescription opioids. The resultant signature will be incorporated into our existing product library of oculomotor biosignatures, such as marijuana impairment and fatigue. This capability will be delivered as a Software as a Service and represents the first product on the market capable of immediate feedback as to the fitness of the subject for the work environment. In this Phase I project, a clinical study will be conducted to determine the effects of a commonly prescribed opioid on involuntary eye movements during several visual tasks. The resulting data will be used to identify a dose-dependent oculomotor biosignature for opioid impairment.