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Active, not recruitingNCT03242161Updated Jul 14, 2026

Development of LabPatch-alcohol as a Noninvasive Skin Patch to Detect Blood Alcohol Concentrations

An Early Phase 1 interventional study of LabPatch-alcohol in Alcohol Intoxication, sponsored by Mclean Hospital. Active, not recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 21 Years to 50 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-07-14.

Sponsored by Mclean Hospital · Early Phase 1, Interventional, and Device feasibility

Phase
Early Phase 1
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
8
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
21 Years to 50 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

This study is designed to test LabPatch-alcohol, a wearable, non-invasive biosensor Band-Aid like patch that is designed to detect real-time changes in interstitial alcohol concentrations in human subjects. The changes in interstitial alcohol concentrations will be compared to blood alcohol concentrations to determine the patch's validity against the gold standard.

Read the detailed description

Nanotechnology has the potential to become a powerful tool in addiction medicine. The potential utility for passive, non-invasive wearable alcohol monitors is great and could play a major role in public safety as well as in both research, clinical, and treatment settings. Clinitech, LLC has developed LabPatch, an electronic bandage that continuously and imperceptibly samples interstitial fluid from the skin surface and measures relevant biomarkers in the fluid. The patch uses novel nanowire technology to sample the interstitial fluid from just underneath the skin and then uses an electrochemical reaction to measure either glucose or alcohol concentration. The participants' interstitial alcohol concentration (IAC) will be measured via LabPatch-alcohol at the same time points as blood samples so that a direct comparison can be made. Thus, the LabPatch-alcohol will be tested as the participant's BAC rises and falls through the legally intoxicated concentration (0.08%), and the goal is to match measures obtained via the prototype LabPatch-alcohol with whole blood alcohol concentrations. The LabPatch operational circuit lies on the underside of the bandage. The circuit surface is placed in contact with the skin by the application of the elastic adhesive bandage with a contact tension that provides modest pressure, as in the case of a conventional wound bandage. The temperature of the skin is measured electrically and the consistency of temperature is used to verify good contact and to monitor continued contact. The entire process takes 3-5 seconds to collect the sample, a pause for 1 sec and then 3 additional seconds to conduct the analysis.

02

Conditions studied

  • Alcohol Intoxication

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03

Who can participate

Ages eligible
21 Years to 50 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

  • Subject is capable of understanding and complying with the protocol
  • Good physical and mental health (normal physical exam, ECG, blood and urine chemistries, including absences of history or laboratory evidence of diabetes)
  • Body Mass Index between 18-30, inclusive
  • Age 21-50 years (age will be verified by driver's license or other valid form of identification)
  • Have used alcohol, on average, between 5-15 drinks per week over the past 6 months.
  • Have a stable living situation with current postal address

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Meets criteria for current alcohol or substance use disorders (Past alcohol or substance use disorders greater than 3 years ago is acceptable)
  • Concurrent diagnosis of Axis I disorder
  • bMaintained on an antipsychotic or antidepressant medication; taking prescription medications except certain short-term anti-fungal agents and some tropical creams for dermal conditions
  • Heavy alcohol drinkers (greater than 15 drinks per week)
  • Tobacco use greater than 5 cigarettes per day
  • History of major head trauma resulting in cognitive impairment or history of seizure disorder
  • Heavy caffeine use (greater than 500 mg on a regular daily basis)
  • Subject has active hepatitis and/or aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) > 3x the upper limit of normal
  • For female volunteers, a positive pregnancy test
04

Study design

Phase
Early Phase 1
Primary purpose
Device feasibility
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
8 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    LabPatch-alcohol

    All subjects will be administered alcohol and then monitored by a non-invasive alcohol sensor

    Diagnostic Test: LabPatch-alcohol

Interventions

  • Diagnostic testLabPatch-alcohol

    a wearable, non-invasive biosensor Band-Aid like patch that is designed to detect real-time changes in interstitial alcohol concentrations in human subjects after they have consumed alcohol

05

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Interstitial and Blood Alcohol Concentrations

    Interstitial (from the skin surface) alcohol concentrations will be obtained via the LabPatch band-aid while at the same time blood samples will be collected in an attempt to correlate the two. The LabPatch-alcohol is a completely noninvasive device and the goal is to determine is precision against the gold standard--blood alcohol concentrations.

    Time frame: Both samples will be collected at baseline and at 2.5 to 5 minute intervals for up to 2.5 hrs after a 0.9 g/kg dose of alcohol.

06

Study locations

1 site
  • McLean Hospital
    Belmont, Massachusetts 02478, United States
07

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

08

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03242161
Lead sponsor
Mclean Hospital
Responsible party
Scott Lukas (Director, McLean Imaging Center, Mclean Hospital) — Principal investigator
First posted
Aug 8, 2017
Start date
Jan 1, 2018
Primary completion
Dec 11, 2026 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 11, 2026 (estimated)
Last update
Jul 14, 2026

Study contacts

Scott E Lukas, PhD
principal investigator · Mclean Hospital

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
Yes
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is active, not recruiting, as verified in Jul 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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