# A Wearable Electrochemical Alcohol Sensor

> **NIH NIH R43** · LABSYS, LLC · 2021 · $223,899

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Measuring alcohol consumption is important to individual health and the prevention of adverse
consequences of drinking. There are tremendous needs for wearable alcohol continuous sensing
devices that are accurate, minimal- or non-invasive, unobstructive and affordable. However,
existing technologies cannot provide alcohol sensors with all specifications desired by wearable
devices, including size, power, sensitivity, specificity, safety, manufacturability and cost. The
proposed project is to develop an alcohol sensor suitable for wearable applications by innovating
electrochemical alcohol sensors. The innovation uses microfabrication techniques to achieve high
sensitivity, high safety, good manufacturability and low cost with a miniaturized membraneless
structure. The catalytic effect of the designed electrolyte-electrode interface achieves high
sensitivity and high selectivity. The size of the sensor is less than 2x2 millimeters, can unlock
many possibilities for wearable, smartphone, and automobile for alcohol detection in breath,
interstitial fluid, or blood. In this project, we aim to demonstrate the technology by an examplary
ring form factor wireless powered wearable device that can accurately and continuously monitor
the alcohol level in body fluid. In Phase I, in addition to the alcohol sensor, a minimal invasive
biocompatible microneedle array is designed to painlessly sample and deliver the interstitial fluid
to the sensor. The microneedle array is designed to be processed along with the sensor on the
same silicon substrate. The entire process is compatible with the fabrication of complimentary
oxde metal semiconductor (CMOS), allowing the further monolithic integration of the microneedle
array, the alcohol sensor, and the CMOS sensor readout integrated circuit (IC) in Phase II.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10010893
- **Project number:** 1R43AA028456-01
- **Recipient organization:** LABSYS, LLC
- **Principal Investigator:** Yue Huang
- **Activity code:** R43 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $223,899
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-11-05 → 2022-10-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10010893

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10010893, A Wearable Electrochemical Alcohol Sensor (1R43AA028456-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10010893. Licensed CC0.

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