Wearable tattoo device ‘allows alcohol levels to be monitored by phone’

A small monitoring device worn on the skin like a tattoo has been developed as a means of detecting a person's alcohol levels in real time.

Created by nanoengineers and electrical and computing engineers at the University of California, San Diego, the device is able to read the alcohol levels in perspiration and transmit the information to a smartphone or other monitoring system.

Resembling a temporary tattoo, the biosensor patch is embedded with flexible wireless components, including one that releases a chemical to stimulate perspiration on the skin below the patch, while another senses changes in the electrical current flowing through the generated sweat to measure alcohol levels.

The wearable monitor has a number of advantages due to being non-invasive and discreet, making it preferable to the use of blood tests or breathalysers. It is believed to offer potential as a means of helping people to self-monitor their alcohol intake and avoid driving if necessary.

The study's co-senior author Dr Patrick Mercier at the University of California, San Diego's Jacobs School of Engineering said: "Our patch sends alcohol levels to your smartphone in just eight minutes, making real-time alcohol monitoring possible, practical and personal."

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