# Enzymatic transdermal alcohol biosensor

> **NIH NIH R44** · MILO SENSORS, INC. · 2020 · $1,033,077

## Abstract

Alcohol consumption has widespread prevalence with global impact on societies, economies,
and health. Overconsumption and misuse of alcohol has led to significant burdens, including
nearly 88,000 fatalities in 2006 (CDC, 2013), contribution to more than 200 diseases and
injury-related health conditions totaling 5.1% of the burden of disease and injury worldwide
(Sacks, 2014), and costs greater than $249 billion annually in the USA alone (Sacks, 2014).
This project aims to impact the aforementioned societal, health, and economic burdens by
increasing awareness of alcohol consumption, intoxication, and misuse. The proposed wearable
technology leverages Milo Sensors’ patented transdermal analyte sensing technology (US
Patent 9,855,000) to develop a highly sensitive, non-invasive enzymatic transdermal alcohol
sensor for continuous measurement of Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC). Supported by
successful completion of SBIR Phase I Research Aims, expected outcomes from this research
project include: 1) development of device manufacturing techniques for the reliable production
of low cost, high-sensitivity enzymatic biosensors, 2) clinical validation of the transdermal
alcohol quantification through comparisons of the proposed technology to commercially
available transdermal alcohol sensors, as well as to police-grade breath alcohol instruments as
a proxy for BAC, and 3) research validation of biosensor performance and low-power wireless
transmission capabilities in intended use settings. Milo Sensors’ technology will enable
continuous monitoring of alcohol in applications where measurement is critical to understanding
decision-making, drinking behavior, and health. Validation gathered from this study could lead
towards the development of a wearable alcohol platform capable of continuous alcohol
monitoring for improved decision-making and accountability, leading to increased awareness,
disease management and health outcomes.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10020888
- **Project number:** 5R44AA026125-03
- **Recipient organization:** MILO SENSORS, INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** Bob Michael Lansdorp
- **Activity code:** R44 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $1,033,077
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-20 → 2023-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10020888

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10020888, Enzymatic transdermal alcohol biosensor (5R44AA026125-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-28 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10020888. Licensed CC0.

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