# SCH: Monitoring safety and adherence of pain management though remote opioid

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · 2020 · $229,797

## Abstract

Chronic pain is common and a major economic burden. An estimated 100 million people in the US, and 1.5
billion people worldwide, suffer from chronic pain. In the US alone, estimates of the total annual
incremental cost of health care due to pain ranges from $560 billion to $635 billion (in 2010). So far, only
approximately 1 out of 4 individuals with chronic pain receive appropriate therapy. A significant contributor
to poor chronic pain management is misuse of medication (e.g., opioids). Studies have shown that opioid
nonadherence rates range from 47% to 78% in chronic pain patients.
 This proposal aims to develop a wearable and minimally invasive sensing system that will enable
remote and continuous monitoring of opioid medication adherence as part of prescribed treatment for
chronic pain management. A wearable sensory patch containing microneedles will be developed to
continuously monitor opioid levels in the interstitial fluid. The opioid sensor will communicate securely and
wirelessly to a system that will aggregate data collected from multiple wearable devices (such as activity
monitors and physiological sensors) to estimate the patient physiological and functional state as well as
detect overdose and nonadherence events.
 The proposed project directly aligns with the mission of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and
Bioengineering (NIBIB) through the research and development of a new biosensing technique to
fundamentally improve the monitoring of opioid-based pain management adherence and early detection of
opioid overdose. Also relevant to the NIBIB mission, achieving the aims of this project requires a multi-
disciplinary approach and complementary advances in materials science and computer science. From the
healthcare perspective, this project will offer evidence-based and personalized decision support to
caregivers for better treatment of chronic pain. The long-term impact of improved pain management
adherence will lead to better pain control, reduce the economic burden of pain and palliative care, and
reduce the deadly side effects of opioid overdose.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10021028
- **Project number:** 5R01EB029363-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Insup Lee
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $229,797
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-09-30 → 2023-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10021028

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10021028, SCH: Monitoring safety and adherence of pain management though remote opioid (5R01EB029363-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10021028. Licensed CC0.

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