Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a flexible wearable sensor that accurately measures an individual's blood alcohol level from sweat and transmits the data wirelessly to a laptop, smartphone, or other mobile device. The device could be used by doctors and police officers for continuous, non-invasive, and real-time monitoring of blood alcohol content.

Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a flexible wearable sensor that can accurately measure a person’s blood alcohol level from sweat and transmit the data wirelessly to a laptop or smartphone.

A temporary tattoo, which sticks to the skin, induces sweat and electrochemically detects the alcohol level. A portable and flexible electronic circuit board, connected to the tattoo by a magnet, communicates the information to a mobile device via Bluetooth.

A group led by nanoengineering professor Joseph Wang fabricated the tattoo, equipped with screen-printed electrodes and a small hydrogel patch containing pilocarpine, a drug that passes through the skin and induces sweat.

The tattoo works first by releasing pilocarpine. The resulting sweat comes into contact with an electrode coated with alcohol oxidase, an enzyme that selectively reacts with alcohol to generate hydrogen peroxide, which is electrochemically detected.

The information is then sent to the electronic circuit board as electrical signals, and the data is communicated wirelessly to a mobile device.

The researchers tested the alcohol sensor on nine healthy volunteers, who wore the tattoo on their arms before and after consuming an alcoholic beverage. The readouts accurately reflected the wearers’ blood alcohol concentrations.

Source 

Topics:
Anatomy Consumer electronics Diagnostics Electronic equipment Fluids and secretions Health Monitors and Activity Trackers Medical Medical equipment and supplies Medical, health and wellness Medical, health, and wellness Sensors and actuators Wearables

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    This article first appeared in the October, 2016 issue of Medical Design Briefs Magazine (Vol. 6 No. 10).

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