Non-invasive Wearable Alcohol Sensor

Only Direct-to-Phase II and Fast-Track proposals will be accepted. Phase I proposals will NOT be accepted. Number of anticipated awards: 1-3 Budget (total costs, per award): Phase I: up to $500,000 for up to 1 year Phase II: up to $2,045,816 for up to 2 years PROPOSALS THAT EXCEED THE BUDGET OR PROJECT DURATION LISTED ABOVE MAY NOT BE FUNDED. Summary The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) seeks a non-sweat based, non-invasive wearable, discreet device capable of measuring and recording blood alcohol levels in real time. Alcohol biosensors will simplify the process of determining close to real time alcohol consumption for both researchers and clinical research participants where alcohol consumption is being measured. Passive, accurate, continuous measurement of alcohol levels provides an objective, biomedical measure of alcohol consumption without the inconvenience and discomfort of having blood drawn at regular intervals. Likewise, during treatment of individuals with alcohol use disorder (AUD), and especially in clinical trials designed to identify the most effective treatments for AUD, it is essential to know accurately the extent of alcohol consumption of trial participants to determine the effectiveness of the intervention being studied. The current method of determining alcohol consumption (Time-Line Followback (TLFB)) is cumbersome, time-consuming, relies on retrospective recall and can be highly variable from one interviewer to another. Alcohol biosensors in contact with the human body will decrease the assessment variability experienced with the TLFB and increase the rigor and reproducibility of measuring alcohol consumption in clinical trials. Current technological developments in electronics, miniaturization, wireless technology, and biophysical techniques of alcohol detection in humans increase the likelihood of successful development of a useful alcohol biosensor in the short term.