The US-based National Health Institute had recently issued a Wearable Alcohol Biosensor challenge with the objective of creating a non-invasive wearable device which is capable of measuring alcohol in blood in near real-time. The challenge was won by a company, BACtrack, which created a prototype, called BACtrack Skyn.
The device is worn on the wrist and offers continuous, real-time, and non-invasive monitoring of a user’s TAC (Transdermal Alcohol Content). Alcohol is detected and measured with transdermal monitoring, which tracks the ethanol molecules escaping through the skin. TAC samples are then converted into a history of a user’s BAC (Blood Alcohol Content) with BACtrack’s proprietary algorithm. BACtrack Skyn uses an electrochemical sensor and connects via Bluetooth to an app on a user’s smartphone, which can alert a person if he or she goes over limit.
With this wearable device, a user can passively track alcohol consumption in real-time. There’s no need for a user to take a breath alcohol test – their estimated BAC result is on their wrist, continuously. By syncing with an app on a smartphone or smartwatch, a user can get powerful and actionable data. For instance, a user’s phone could vibrate to notify them that they’re approaching a defined threshold and remind them to slow down their drinking, or in the case of sobriety monitoring, a family member could receive a notification when a user’s BAC has gone above a particular level.