BACtrack Wins “Wearable Alcohol Biosensor Challenge”

BACtrack, a company which specialises in personal and professional breathalyzers, has won the top prize in the NIH’s National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) “Wearable Alcohol Biosensor Challenge”.

BACtrack won the US$200,000 first prize award for its prototype, BACtrack Skyn.

The device is worn on the wrist and offers continuous, real-time, and non-invasive monitoring of a user’s TAC (Transdermal Alcohol Content).

Alcohol is detected and measured with transdermal monitoring, which tracks the ethanol molecules escaping through the skin. TAC samples are then converted into a history of an user’s BAC (Blood Alcohol Content) with BACtrack’s proprietary algorithm.

BACtrack Skyn uses an electrochemical sensor and connects via Bluetooth to an app on a user’s smartphone.

“We are thrilled to win the Wearable Alcohol Biosensor Challenge. We’re excited to bring BACtrack Skyn to market to aid researchers and treatment providers in collecting more reliable data and ultimately, make advances in healthcare treatment,” said Keith Nothacker, President and CEO of BACtrack. “At the same time, we want to do for wearable alcohol monitors what we did for breath alcohol testers. Early on, breathalyzers were big and bulky and only available for law enforcement. BACtrack made breathalyzers low-cost, sleek, and a safety product that anyone can and should use. We have the same vision for BACtrack Skyn.”

In addition to improving reliable data collection for researchers and clinicians, a wearable alcohol sensor can help individuals to track their own drinking habits.

With BACtrack Skyn, a user can passively track alcohol consumption in real-time. As long as it is working properly, there’s no need for a user to take a breath alcohol test – their estimated BAC result is on their wrist, continuously.

By syncing with an app on a smartphone or smartwatch, a user can get actionable data. For instance, a user’s phone could vibrate to notify them that they're approaching a certain level and remind them to slow down their drinking, or in the case of sobriety monitoring, a family member could receive a notification when a user’s BAC has gone above 0.00 %BAC.

BACtrack Skyn is expected to be available in limited quantities in Q4 2016.

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