Primul tatuaj inteligent temporar care detecteaza nivelul de alcool din sange

O echipa de cercetatori de la Universitatea din California, San Diego, au creat un tatuaj temporar usor de purtat, inteligent, capabil de a trimite informatii catre smartphone cu privire la nivelul alcoolului in sange.

Dispozitivul, care este purtat pe piele, actioneaza prin detectarea nivelului de alcool in transpiratie. S-ar putea, creatorii sai spera, de a fi o modalitate aflata la indemana persoanelor fizice pentru a monitoriza aportul lor de alcool personal.

The number of DUIs each year is enormous,” Jayoung Kim, one of the authors on the paper, told Digital Trends. “Breathalyzers — which are the most commonly-used alcohol sensor — have the chance to give false-signals if, for example, you measure as soon as you finish an alcoholic drink. Therefore, we wanted to develop a wearable non-invasive alcohol sensor to give more accurate data in a real-time. Hopefully it can contribute to reducing the number of DUIs.

Senzorul foloseste o tehnica numita iontoforeza pentru a induce transpiratia pe piele sub plasture. O alta componenta detecteaza apoi modificari ale curentului electric care curge prin sudoarea generata.

Masurarea nivelului de alcool in transpiratie a mai fost incercata deja inainte, dar dureaza de la 2-3 ore pentru a citi valorile. Noul tatuaj, pe de alta parte, trimite o citire pe smartphone-ul unui utilizator in numai opt minute, prin intermediul Bluetooth.

We still have several things to do before we can bring this to market,” Kim said. “Currently, we are working on testing it with a larger number of subjects to get better accuracy, and to develop a more user-friendly app. We think it would be possible to connect it with a car service like Uber or Lyft, or to send a message to a friend when you are drunk.