Wearable device detects blood alcohol content

A wearable device that measures blood alcohol levels through the wearer’s skin has won the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism’s (NIAAA) Wearable Alcohol Biosensor Challenge

The competition guidelines asked applicants to design a discreet device capable of measuring blood alcohol levels in near real-time.

The winning prototype and recipient of the $200,000 (£138,146) first prize was submitted by BACtrack, a company that designs portable breath alcohol testers.

Their entry, the BACtrack Skyn, is worn on the wrist and offers continuous and non-invasive monitoring of a user’s blood alcohol content (BAC).

The device detects alcohol using a fuel cell technology similar to that in devices used by law enforcement for roadside alcohol testing and, according to the company, also connects via bluetooth to a smartphone to store data.

NIAAA director George Koob, said: “NIAAA issued this challenge to spark innovation in alcohol biosensor development.

“We were very pleased at the level of response and quality of prototypes that we received from the biotech community.”

The Wearable Alcohol Biosensor Challenge, issued through Challenge.gov in March 2015, called for non-invasive wearable technology that could improve upon existing alcohol biosensor technology used in the criminal justice system.

NIAAA received eight submissions and the working prototypes were tested for accuracy and reliability in a laboratory setting. Most of the designs took the form of fitness tracker-type watches that estimate BAC based on the amount of alcohol escaping through perspiration (known as “transdermal monitoring”).

Entries were judged based on accuracy, reliability and frequency of blood alcohol measurements, ability to accurately collect and store data or transmit data to a wireless device, data security and privacy safeguards and plans for manufacturing, according to NIAAA.