A Real-Time Wearable Sensor to Monitor Alcohol Consumption through Ethyl Glucuronide Detection

Abstract

Here we demonstrate for the first time a wearable sensor that can differentiate Ethyl Glucuronide (EtG) concentrations in synthetic human sweat correlating to the predicted alcohol consumption profiles of moderate drinkers. Alcohol consumption monitoring devices typically report blood alcohol content (BAC) through correlation with breath alcohol content (BrAC). However, the rapid decay of expressed ethanol can limit the application space of these devices. Alcohol is metabolized and excreted from the body by different processes or pathways, ethyl Glucuronide (EtG) is one of them and is produced in the liver. EtG is readily expressed and detectable in transdermal human sweat making it a promising candidate for wearable alcohol consumption monitoring. A wearable biosensor device capable of reporting EtG levels in sweat both continuously via low power impedance spectroscopy is reported. The device was not only able to detect and respond to EtG present in the samples, but also able to differentiate each test scenario from one another. The three distinct EtG concentrations was designed as simulated drinking scenarios estimated to be 1, 2, and 3 standard U.S. drinks consumed over a duration of 60 minutes. It shows the ability for this device to act as an accurate reporter of EtG levels in low volume sweat (less than 5 microliter). The device will serve as a candidate tool for researchers to better understand and characterize the relationship between sweat EtG and consumed alcohol in real-time.