A device designed to cut deaths caused by drugs overdoses is set to be trialled by experts in Dundee.
A professor at Dundee University will lead a clinical trial for the wearable sensor, which alerts emergency services when someone has taken an overdose.
It works by monitoring the breathing rate of the person wearing it.
The technology, which has been developed by digital health firm PneumoWave, could provide a new way of saving people who are at risk of dying from drugs use.
More than 80 drugs deaths in nine months
The main tool currently used to save lives – naloxone – only works when someone carrying the medicine is called to help a drug user, or comes across them by chance.
In Tayside and Fife, drugs deaths are high with 81 deaths being reported in the region between January and September last year.
The level in Fife had dropped slightly on the previous year but the numbers remained the same for Tayside.
The trial, led by Professor John Dillon, will capture data that will allow the company to further develop its technology.
Prof Dillon said: “Working in the field that I do, I see first-hand the devastation that opioid overdoses bring
Device could become ‘tool’ for cutting death numbers
“Large numbers of my patient group die from overdoses every year and this is a major issue everywhere, but one that we in Scotland need to address particularly urgently.
“The bare statistics about drug-related deaths are there for everyone to see, but these do not tell the whole story – that of the many tragedies and lost opportunities that lie behind them and the heartbreak that they bring to families and loved ones.
“I am hopeful that this device will become a tool to contribute to the efforts to prevent these senseless losses.”
