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Wujin Sun joined Virginia Tech’s “Curious Conversations” to talk about a device he’s working on that will automatically detect opioid overdoses and administer life-saving medication. He explained how the device works, the motivations behind it, and the need for an intervention that doesn’t require a bystander’s assistance.

Travis

When it comes to opioid overdoses, there are some well-known bystander interventions that can help save people's lives. But what happens when there is no bystander? What happens when a person overdoses and they're all alone? Well, thankfully, Virginia Tech's Wujin Son is working on the answer to that very question.

Wujin

basically, we integrated two modules, the sensor module and also the drug release module into a tiny patch.

Travis

Wijan is an assistant professor in the Department of Biological Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech. His research interests include cell and biomaterial engineering, as well as drug delivery systems, tissue engineering, and precision medicine. So he was able to explain to me the device that he and his colleagues have created that he believes might one day be able to detect and even reverse an overdose in an individual without any other person even needing to be around. He also shared a little about the origins of the project, as well as his hopes for it in the future.

I'm Travis Williams and this is Virginia Tech's Curious Conversations.

Travis

You know, I don't even want to bury the lead here at all. You have helped create a new patch that could potentially help save somebody that may have overdosed on drugs. So let's just start right there. What what have you helped create and and what does it do?

Wujin Sun

Yeah, in the beginning, our idea is simple. We just want an automatic device that can detect overdose and then act accordingly. So that's the goal for our patch.

Travis

Yeah, and so I think what it's called the iNAL patch, is that what it's called?

Wujin Sun

Yeah, you can probably call that the iNAL patch

Travis

And just to give people who are listening like a I guess an idea of it, it from what I've seen, the one that you all developed, it's about the size of a penny and it and it looks like it looks like it might would attach to a person kind of like a band aid. Is that an accurate way to describe it?

Wujin Sun

Yeah, so the idea is like a bandaid or patch. So the current version we reported is the size is designed for mouse, so it's pretty small. But for future human development, human use, way we need to make it bigger.

Travis

Yeah. And so what's inside that? Like how does it what is it actually doing when you're when you're wearing it?

Wujin Sun

So inside this patch we have engineered a lot of nanomaterials. So the nanomaterials do two things. One thing is they sense. They work as a biosensor to detect opioids, like fentanyl. And the other thing these nanomaterials do is that they hold the drug and waiting to release it upon the signal from the sensor. So basically, we integrated two modules, the sensor module and also the drug release module into a tiny patch.

Travis

Okay, so it has microneedles in it and it senses it senses drugs. Specifically it it senses fentanyl, correct? And then it releases naloxone, which I guess if people don't know what naloxone is, what what is naloxone?

Wujin Sun

So naloxone is the first aid drug people administer to reverse overdose. So currently the standard practice is the formulation we call that Narcan. Basically it's given through the nose, we call that nasal formulation.

It's good. It has saved a lot of people, but it requires a bystander. That means if someone's overdosed, we need someone there to help to administer it.

Travis

Yeah, I know getting those Narcan, the Narcan, the nasal delivery systems around campus has been a big thing that Virginia Tech's done.

Wujin Sun

Mm-hmm.

Travis

And so potentially, I guess this would allow a person who's alone to

Wujin Sun

Mm-hmm.

Travis

to it, we give them the ability to reverse an overdose.

 

Why, why was it important for you all to help? build a delivery system for people that that they where they wouldn't need a bystander.

Wujin Sun

The idea is for those that live alone and the application scenario we have in mind is that the opioids are actually used very often in the clinic. They are very important pain relievers like after surgery or some chronic disease, people need pain relievers In other words, people need opioids. So we cannot simply like, don't use it. We have to use it for some cases. So our patch can kind of...like a safety, so for those that have to use the opioids and this kind of safety there, can apply the patch and then you can take the pain relievers without worrying too much about getting overdosed.

Travis

Yeah, I think I told you maybe when we we talked before that my grandmother was she was on a couple of different pain medications. And I know that as she got older, one of the things we worried about was maybe she forgot that that she had taken her medicine and and could accidentally

Wujin Sun

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Travis

overdose. I think that's a pretty common thing with people as they start to get older, you know, starts to maybe the memory's not not functioning as well. But you know, I say that half the time I can't remember if I've taken like my allergy pill just we get in these habits and we forget about things. So it seems like that would be a very natural use for for this. I'm curious when you got into to this line of work, when you got into into studying in in this field, at what point did you start to think about doing something, creating something related to drug overdoses? Was that always on your radar or did it pop on there at some point during your career?

Wujin Sun

As not always, so before I joined Virginia Tech as a professor, I did my training in engineering smart drug delivery devices for like cancer or diabetes. And then I started my own career. I have to do something that people can easily tell is not my advisor's work. So then I brainstormed different directions.

One direction I look into is that one criteria when I search the direction is that it has to be important. People will care about it. I don't want to just engineer some fancy stuff. Well, this is fancy, so what? I just want to make something that can really help people. So then I search a lot of ideas and end up choosing the opioid Overdose from challenge.

Travis

What was it about opioid overdose that that got ya, that hooked ya?

 

Wujin Sun

It's a common problem and also it's a lethal problem. common and lethal. that hit my criteria as an important challenge.

Travis

Yeah, it was easy to see you had the need there, I guess. So

Wujin Sun

Yeah

Travis

well, when you're developing this patch, what's been one of the greatest challenges in in bringing it to fruition? I know you've tested it positively in in mouse models

Wujin Sun

Mm-hmm.

Travis

at this point, but what's what's been your biggest challenge yet to overcome?

Wujin Sun

So, When we started this project, actually there's no such report about a device that can detect and release at the same time. You can see papers that demonstrate a sensor or a different paper demonstrates a release device, but nothing can do both. So it may sound simple, it's two things together, but engineering from the details is not that simple. It has to work that we have to optimize the chemistry, come up with a chemistry and really to show it. In the process, some of our ideas didn't work and luckily one of them worked.

Travis

And tell me if I'm wrong about this, but it doesn't require any sort of power source to work. Like you'd have to wear

Wujin Sun

Mm-hmm.

Travis

a battery pack with it, right?

Wujin Sun

We don't need batteries, so everything is based on the material property itself. We engineered the sensing capability and also the release mechanism all based on chemistry.

Travis

Yeah. And how does it how does it know how much naloxone t to release? Or or maybe I should ask, does it just open and dump it all? Does it lease it sporadically? How does that part of it work?

Wujin Sun

So the amount to release, we optimized the release amount by tuning the chemical properties, like how much drug we loaded in the beginning and how...many pores in the nanoparticles. So those parameters can affect the result. in the process of development, we have tested different parameters just to find a range that can really work.

Travis

I believe I read somewhere that it's also able to maybe save some of the naloxone

Wujin Sun

Mm-hmm.

Travis

in case you need it later or maybe

Wujin Sun

Mm-hmm.

Travis

it doesn't I don't know exactly how fentanyl works, but I think I read somewhere that maybe fentanyl can outlast naloxone at some point.

Wujin Sun

Mm-hmm.

Travis

so how how does how does that work? Does it does it just save some back? is it able to be used more than once?

Wujin Sun

So I think that's the innate property of the chemistry we use. So for the initial release, it didn't release all of it. So that's part of the property of the nanoparticles. Even if you want to release all at once, it's hard to achieve. It tends to keep part of it. And when there's a...future fentanyl increase, it can work again.

Travis

Okay. That's incredible that you've not only figured out this sensory and delete delivery system for this drug, but also it is able to gauge like the right amount to

Wujin Sun

Mm-hmm.

Travis

to give a person. That's that's incredible. well what are what are some of the next steps in this project?

Wujin Sun

So, So our device contains drugs. So from the perspective of FDA, they see this as a drug device. So if we want to get this device onto people's arms, we have to follow all the steps defined by FDA what has to be done. So currently we have tested in small animals. The next step is larger animals and get FDA approval to test in human. So actually this is a long process just like any drug development and not just time and also consumes a lot of time.

Travis

Yeah, I believe I forget the exact timetable, but we had Webster Santos on at one point to talk about the drug drug discovery process. And I remember being my eyes were open to how long that process actually is and how complicated it is. So just to make it to the stage you're at is really tremendous. Now, this patch, I believe the one that you worked on, it's it's about the size of the penny, but that's the one for the mice. Well, do you think the patch will increase in size as you move on to larger mammals and then eventually humans.

Wujin

Yeah, so the size will increase and we will also tune the property of the materials. For example, the same area of the patch, we will definitely load more drugs. So the final product I expected to be like a palm size. It wouldn't be too big, still convenient to use.

Travis

Does it matter where a person puts it on their body or is that something where you're still working out?

Wujin Sun

From what we see and what we designed it to do, the location does not matter that much. Or maybe there's an optimal part of the body that we will need to figure out for future human development.

Travis

Well, when you dream about this project, when you hope for this project, where do you hope that it goes?

Wujin

The first step is that doctors can help prescribe it to the patients. They can help educate the patient that this can help you. after that, when more people understand all these patches, it's great, it can help people. I hope that it can be used by the general public.

Travis

Yeah, would you like to see it become maybe like an over the counter a pr product?

Wujin

Mm-mm. Mm-hmm.

Travis

Just I think Narcan now is over the counter. You can just buy that. and I think that was

Wujin

Yes, yes, yes,

just something like an alternative on the marketing.

Travis

Yeah. Well that sounds great. And I'm I'm really looking forward to to you achieving that. The the last thing that I want to ask you is you have mentioned that it was really important for you to do something that was impactful that would help people. What's it like to right now be on the on the doorstep of of achieving something that could potentially save people's lives?

Wujin Sun

It's exciting and also looking forward, that's a lot of work to do. my training has been in the lab. Now I'm trying to move something out of the lab. Actually, there were a lot of things unknown to me. I have a lot of things to learn to move this forward.

Travis

Yeah. Well that's exciting. And once you do move it forward, I hope that you will come back and talk to us about that part of the process as well.

 

About Sun

Sun is an assistant professor in the Department of Biological Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech. His research interests include cell and biomaterial engineering, drug delivery systems, tissue engineering, and precision medicine.

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Podcast Host

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Travis Williams
traviskw@vt.edu

"Curious Conversations" is a series of free-flowing conversations with Virginia Tech researchers that take place at the intersection of world-class research and everyday life.  

Produced and hosted by Travis Williams, assistant director of marketing and communications for the Office of Research and Innovation, episodes feature university researchers sharing their expertise, motivations, the practical applications of their work in a format that more closely resembles chats at a cookout than classroom lectures. New episodes are shared each Tuesday.

“Curious Conversations” is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and on YouTube. 

If you know of an expert (or are that expert) who’d make for a great conversation, email Travis today.

About the Podcast

"Curious Conversations" is a series of free-flowing conversations with Virginia Tech researchers that take place at the intersection of world-class research and everyday life.  

Produced and hosted by Virginia Tech writer and editor Travis Williams, university researchers share their expertise and motivations as well as the practical applications of their work in a format that more closely resembles chats at a cookout than classroom lectures. New episodes are shared each Tuesday.

If you know of an expert (or are that expert) who’d make for a great conversation, email Travis today.