Implantable sensor developed for long-term alcohol monitoring

A miniaturised low-power injectable biosensor that could be used to provide continuous, long-term alcohol monitoring has been created.

Researchers from the University of California, San Diego have been able to develop a chip that is small enough to be implanted in the body just beneath the surface of the skin, with power provided wirelessly by a wearable device, such as a smartwatch or patch.

Measuring roughly one cubic mm in size, it contains a sensor coated with alcohol oxidase, an enzyme that selectively interacts with alcohol in a way that can be electrochemically detected. Two additional sensors measure background signals and pH levels, allowing these factors to be cancelled out to make the reading more accurate.

The chip has been tailored to consume only 970 nanowatts in total, which is roughly one million times less power than a smartphone consumes during a phone call.

Drew Hall, an electrical engineering professor at the University of California, San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering, said: "The ultimate goal of this work is to develop a routine, unobtrusive alcohol and drug monitoring device for patients in substance abuse treatment programmes."

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