According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, more than 115 people die in the US due to opioid overdose, which is characterised by the slowing down or cessation of breathing.
If detected in time, these symptoms can be reversed using a drug called naloxone.
The new app uses sonar to monitor breathing rates and identify the occurrence of an overdose. It sends inaudible sound waves from the phone to people’s chests and then tracks how the waves return to the phone in order to check for specific breathing patterns.
