MINDER wearable band to detect buprenorphine use
MINDER: Wearable sensor-based detection of digital biomarkers of adherence to medications for opioid use disorder
This project uses a lightweight wearable band, a smartphone app, and AI to spot when people on buprenorphine for opioid use disorder take their medication.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Univ of Massachusetts Med Sch Worcester NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Worcester, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11321626 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
You would wear a low-profile upper-arm band (the MINDER-band) that continuously records simple body signals while a companion app collects data. The team will create a labeled dataset of confirmed buprenorphine ingestions and train machine learning models to recognize the physiological pattern of taking the medication. Data will flow to a clinician-facing portal so care teams can explore how the system might support treatment. Finally, the system will be tried in real-world MOUD treatment settings to learn how people and clinics use the band and app.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates are people with opioid use disorder who are prescribed buprenorphine and are willing to wear an upper-arm sensor and use a companion smartphone app.
Not a fit: People who are not taking buprenorphine, who cannot or will not wear a device, or who lack a compatible smartphone are unlikely to benefit directly from this project.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the system could give patients and clinicians timely, objective information about buprenorphine use to support adherence and reduce relapse risk.
How similar studies have performed: Wearables and AI have been used to detect medication-taking or opioid-related signals in prior work, but using a custom band plus machine learning specifically to detect buprenorphine ingestion is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
Worcester, United States
- Univ of Massachusetts Med Sch Worcester — Worcester, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Carreiro, Stephanie P — Univ of Massachusetts Med Sch Worcester
- Study coordinator: Carreiro, Stephanie P
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.