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The smart stick-on tattoo that can monitor your alcohol levels – and even call police if you’re over the limit (Additional Coverage)

The smart stick-on tattoo that can monitor your alcohol levels – and even call police if you’re over the limit (Additional Coverage)

 

    Monitor a wearer’s sweat to test blood alcohol levels

    Links to a smartphone app to show users their results

    Can be adapted to be used by police and doctors to monitor people

 

Source: Daily Mail

By Mark Prigg

3 August 2016

 

A new smart stick on tattoo will be able to monitor exactly how much a person is drinking.

 

The flexible patch can detect a person’s blood-alcohol level from their sweat.

 

It can even message doctors and even police if the wearer drinks too much.

 

In the U.S., one person dies every 53 minutes in an alcohol-related car accident, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

 

Currently, ignition interlock devices are being marketed as a way to prevent drunk drivers from starting a car engine.

 

But these are based on breath analysis, which can be affected by a number of factors including humidity, temperature and whether someone has used mouthwash.

 

The monitor, reported in the journal ACS Sensors, works quickly and can send results wirelessly to a smartphone or other device.

 

Recent research has demonstrated that sweat can be a more reliable real-time indicator of blood alcohol content.

 

At least two transdermal sensors have been developed to measure alcohol levels in sweat, but users have to wait up to 2 hours for results.

 

Joseph Wang, Patrick Mercier and colleagues at the University of California, San Diego, set out to make a more practical version.

 

With temporary-tattoo paper, the researchers developed a patch that tests blood alcohol content non-invasively in three rapid steps.

 

It induces sweat by delivering a small amount of the drug pilocarpine across the skin.

 

An enzymatic reaction leads to the electrochemical detection of the alcohol content.

 

And a flexible electronic circuit board transmits the data via a Bluetooth connection to a mobile device or laptop.

 

With temporary-tattoo paper, the researchers developed a patch that tests blood alcohol content non-invasively in three rapid steps.

 

The steps take less than 8 minutes from start to finish.

 

In addition to connecting to vehicles’ ignition interlock systems, the sensor could be a simple tool for bartenders, friends or law enforcement to use, the researchers say.

 

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3722636/The-smart-stick-tattoo-monitor-alcohol-levels-call-police-limit.html#ixzz4GLZx8uD7