Are we going to see the democratization of a new type of breathalyzer? Nothing is impossible, given the recent work of a team of Japanese researchers. They have in fact modified an ordinary noise-canceling headset in order to measure the alcohol released by the skin of the ears.
A skin test on the ears
And if the expression “Blow into the balloon” was not running in the near future? We are obviously not there yet, but scientists from Tokyo Medical and Dental University (Japan) have developed a new type of breathalyzer which has little in common with the current devices used by the authorities to determine the amount of alcohol in the blood. However, this device described in the review Scientific Reports June 10, 2021 is also used to determine whether or not a person has broken the law.
Police now use breathalysers that require you to breathe inside during several seconds without stopping. However, some people fail or pretend not to. The device of Japanese researchers will not have this problem since it is a skin test. They first investigated the possibility of measuring blood alcohol levels in the palm of the hand, but quickly took their interest elsewhere.
The researchers chose the ears which offer a fairly large surface and above all a skin containing quite a few sweat glands. However, these same glands secrete sweat, which can potentially vary the result of the blood alcohol test in the event of abundance.
Modified noise-canceling headphones
The device presented by Japanese scientists is in the form of a ordinary noise canceling headphones. However, the latter has been modified in order to pass a fine air stream through it. On leaving the headphones, the air comes into contact with a ethanol vapor sensor for analysis. Three volunteers tested the device on their ears for two hours while consuming alcohol. Regularly, these volunteers also underwent conventional breathalyzer tests.
According to the results, the measurement via the ears gave a blood alcohol level similar to that of the breathalyzers with, however, a delay of thirteen minutes. As lead study author Koji Toma explains, a quick result (as in a police check) involves wear the helmet for about 30 seconds.
Now, researchers are focusing their efforts on developing this idea in order to adapt the device to other medical uses. These are likely to be uses for which continuous analysis of biochemicals in blood can be used. Let us quote for example the acetone level measurement, indicating how much fat the body burns during physical activity.
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