Wearable Lab-on-a-patch for non-invasive Alcohol Sensing in Sweat

DESCRIPTION provided by applicant Zansors is a biosensor company with several research and product areas to commercialize evidence based healthcare solutions This proposed research is aimed at achieving objective assessment of blood alcohol concentration BAC by offering a wearable real time alcohol bio sensing device based on a bendable and stretchable lab on a patch platform invented by partner George Washington University GW In despite education and awareness million individuals self reported being impaired while driving their vehicle and million individuals were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics Responsible adults understand the risks of intoxication but stil make the decision to drive while impaired not knowing their actual BAC Commercially available products are available but can cost between andgt $ Consumers typically have access to smartphones that are readily available and used at bars and restaurants so connecting a discrete sensing device through wireless communication to an application on a smartphone could deliver real time notifications of their BAC A discrete bendable stretchable lab on a patch that integrates a hybrid of electrochemical alcohol sensors electronics chip microfluidic channels and stretchable electrical interconnects that offer real time monitoring of ethanol and metabolites in sweat will be a first in kind device that monitors objective BAC Proof of principle data by GW was shown in Natureandapos s Scientific Reports Jan reporting a miniaturized lab on a patch technology integrating semiconductor CMOS sensors and electronics with microfluidics on a flexible substrate PDMS via liquid metal interconnects Zansors has licensed the GW technology US patent pending and a STTR grant will help establish feasibility for real time monitoring of ethanol for BAC levels screening Specific Aim Design and fabricate a wearable wireless lab on a chip patch that measures sweat alcohol level near underarm Design electrochemical fuel cell alcohol sensors Design and assemble signal amplification electronics and finish the microfluidic device design and fabrication Specific Aim Adapt and calibrate the algorithm to compute BAC from sweat data in real time and develop a mobile app to collect process analyze and store data from the device and communicate with a telemedicine and digital health cloud system Specific Aim Conduct an open label clinical study with participants to assess the preliminary engineering performance characteristics of the wireless biosensor PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE In this Phase I STTR grant Zansors and The George Washington University will develop a wearable real time alcohol biosensor based on sweat for consumer to know their blood alcohol concentration BAC using The patch can be worn near the underarm area and measure real time BAC and transmit wirelessly to a mobile phone and also to a mobile cloud system for health analytics The goal is to reduce alcohol driving accidents and make biosensors more affordable for consumers The proposed bendable and stretchable lab on a chip technology can be used as a hour easy to wear patch