We know that the one who drives is the one who does not drink. Except that in fact, we often think (wrongly) that one or two drinks is not a big deal. And we skip the breathalyzer step, out of laziness or because it's too complicated... An innovation could well change our habits:a connected patch, which provides an accurate measurement of the alcohol level in the blood.
Researchers at the University of San Diego have developed this connected patch, with a surface area of 1 cm², which sticks to the skin and gives a result in 15 minutes. It works by releasing a substance that penetrates the epidermis to cause it to secrete sweat. The two electrodes of the patch have an enzyme which reacts in the presence of alcohol and then transmits the information to a printed circuit which communicates the data to a connected object such as a watch or smartphone.
So far, this patch has only been tested on 9 people, but each time it reflected the exact blood alcohol level, even after being bent or shaken. For the inventors of the device, the device is really innovative because it offers a super fast result (almost in real time) and does not require its wearer to play sports. They also believe that it would be possible to configure it to indicate when the legal alcohol limit (0.5 g of alcohol per liter of blood, 0.2 g per liter for young drivers) is exceeded. After the patch informing about the amount of UV received, here is another useful device that we hope to see marketed one day (it is currently in the testing stage).
