BACtrack
{{Short description|Brand of portable breathalyzers}}
{{Infobox company
| name =
| logo = BACtrack logo.jpg
| company_slogan =
| vector_logo =
| type = Private
| genre =
| foundation = 2001
| founder = Keith Nothacker
| location = San Francisco, California, US
| origins =
| key_people =
| area_served = Worldwide
| industry = Consumer electronics
| products = BACtrack S80, BACtrack Mobile, BACtrack S75, BACtrack Element, BACtrack Vio, BACtrack S35, BACtrack Go Keychain.
| revenue =
| operating_income =
| net_income =
| num_employees =
| parent =
| subsid =
| owner =
| homepage = {{URL|https://www.bactrack.com/}}
| footnotes =
}}
BACtrack is a brand of portable breathalyzers owned by KHN Solutions.{{cite web|last=Fenn |first=Donna |title=30 Under 30 |url=http://www.inc.com/30under30/2008/profile/26-nothacker.html |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20091011222816/http://www.inc.com/30under30/2008/profile/26-nothacker.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=11 October 2009 |publisher=Inc. |accessdate=6 March 2014 }}{{cite web|last=Comstock |first=Jean |title=Six attempts at a smartphone-connected breathalyzer |url=http://mobihealthnews.com/22907/six-attempts-at-a-smartphone-connected-breathalyzer/2/ |publisher=MobiHealthNews |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140317173110/http://mobihealthnews.com/22907/six-attempts-at-a-smartphone-connected-breathalyzer/2/ |archivedate=2014-03-17 }} It is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
Company history
BACtrack was founded by Keith Nothacker in 2001, during his senior year at the University of Pennsylvania, when he began selling consumer products online.{{cite news |last1=Beaver |first1=H. Dennis |title=Student Started Life-Saving Small Business After Seeing a Need |url=https://www.kiplinger.com/business/small-business-started-when-student-saw-life-saving-need |access-date=September 13, 2024 |work=Kiplinger |date=February 9, 2023 |language=en}}
In 2004, BACtrack received the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) marketing clearance to sell the AlcoMate CA2000 breathalyzer.{{cite web |title=510(k) Premarket Notification |url=https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfpmn/pmn.cfm?ID=K041334 |website=www.accessdata.fda.gov |access-date=11 September 2022}} BACTrack was among the first companies to sell breathalyzers to the general public for personal use that year.{{cite web|last=Anderson|first=Jon R.|title=What you need to know about the breathalyzer|date=29 March 2013 |url=https://www.militarytimes.com/2013/03/29/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-breathalyzer/|publisher=Military Times|accessdate=10 September 2022}}
BACtrack Mobile Smartphone Breathalyzer
The BACtrack Mobile Smartphone Breathalyzer is a pocket-size breathalyzer that pairs with smartphones and other smart devices via an app and Bluetooth LE, producing an estimate of blood alcohol content (BAC). Results are displayed on the smart device or smartphone screen.{{cite book|last=McGrath|first=Michael J.|title=Sensor technologies: healthcare, wellness and environmental applications|year=2013|publisher=Apress|location=Berkeley|isbn=978-1-4302-6013-4|pages=243–244|url=http://www.apress.com/9781430260134}}
Released on April 23, 2013, the device was the first smartphone-connected breathalyzer available for commercial purchase.{{cite web|last=Carr|first=Austin|title=Can BACtrack become the Nike Fuelband for Alcoholics?|date=22 April 2013|url=http://www.fastcompany.com/3008699/tech-forecast/can-bactrack-become-nike-fuelband-alcoholics|publisher=Fast Company|accessdate=6 March 2014}}
The accuracy of BACtrack Mobile was independently tested and found to be comparable to law enforcement breath alcohol testers.{{Cite journal|last1=Delgado|first1=M. Kit|last2=Huang|first2=Yanlan|last3=Wanner|first3=Kathryn|last4=Goldberg|first4=Erica|last5=Hemmons|first5=Jessica|last6=Spencer|first6=Evan|last7=Wetherill|first7=Regan|date=2017-09-01|title=39 Test accuracy of smartphone-paired breathalysers: a validation study|url=http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/23/Suppl_1/A15.1|journal=Injury Prevention|language=en|volume=23|issue=Suppl 1|pages=A15|doi=10.1136/injuryprev-2017-042560.39|s2cid=80570513|issn=1353-8047|url-access=subscription}} The results of one such study were published in the Journal of Injury Prevention.
Awards
The BACtrack Mobile Smartphone Breathalyzer won a Popular Science "Best of What’s New Award" as a breakthrough technology in the Health Category for 2013.{{cite web|last=Kaplan|first=Sam|title=Best of What's New|url=http://www.popsci.com/bown/2013/product/bactrack-mobile|publisher=Popular Science|accessdate=6 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140223000356/http://www.popsci.com/bown/2013/product/bactrack-mobile|archive-date=23 February 2014|url-status=dead}}
BACtrack Mobile and BACtrack Keychain received Car and Driver's highest rating in an industry-wide comparison in March 2014.{{cite web|last1=Roe|first1=John|title=Ethanol Fueled: Four Handheld Breathalzyers Tested for Accuracy|url=http://www.caranddriver.com/features/ethanol-fueled-four-handheld-breathalyzers-tested-for-accuracy-feature?__hstc=90556293.9fcc4b312095e657160977b06d67ec73.1408996184571.1410462704584.1410564839663.10&__hssc=90556293.4.1410564839663&__hsfp=2399098298|website=CarAndDriver.com|date=18 March 2014|publisher=Car and Driver|accessdate=12 September 2014|ref=5}}{{failed verification|date=September 2017}}
BACtrack Consumption Report
In June, 2014, BACtrack released the BACtrack Consumption Report an aggregation of drinking data and alcohol consumption patterns compiled from users of the BACtrack Mobile Smartphone Breathalyzer.{{cite web|last1=Gayomali|first1=Chris|title=Not Drunk? Must Be Tuesday. Here's When We Drink Alcohol, According To BACTrack|url=http://www.fastcompany.com/3031775/tech-forecast/not-drunk-must-be-tuesday-heres-when-we-drink-alcohol-according-to-bactrack?__hstc=90556293.9fcc4b312095e657160977b06d67ec73.1408996184571.1410462704584.1410564839663.10&__hssc=90556293.13.1410564839663&__hsfp=2399098298|website=fastcompany.com|date=11 June 2014|publisher=Fast Company|accessdate=12 September 2014}}
The data were compiled over the course of a year and represent more than 100,000 alcohol tests taken in over 35 countries, and in all 50 US States. Some of the information in the report includes average blood alcohol content by city and state.{{cite web|last1=Scutti|first1=Susan|title=Like Alcohol? BACtrack's National Intoxication Report Tells You Which Cities (And States) Drink The Most|url=http://www.medicaldaily.com/alcohol-bactracks-national-intoxication-report-tells-you-which-cities-and-states-drink-most-287576?__hstc=90556293.9fcc4b312095e657160977b06d67ec73.1408996184571.1410462704584.1410564839663.10&__hssc=90556293.17.1410564839663&__hsfp=2399098298|website=MedicalDaily.com|date=11 June 2014|publisher=Medical Daily|accessdate=13 September 2014}}
BACtrack View
BACtrack demonstrated the first smartphone-based remote alcohol monitoring system at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show.{{Cite news|url=https://www.medgadget.com/2018/01/medgadget-ces-2018-bactrack-view-breathalyzer-watching-loved-ones.html|title=Medgadget @ CES 2018: BACtrack View Breathalyzer for Watching Over Loved Ones {{!}}|date=2018-01-11|work=Medgadget|access-date=2018-05-03|language=en-US}} BACtrack View uses the front facing camera of an iOS or Android phone to record a user blowing to BACtrack Mobile. The user's BAC result, along with the date, time, and location, are sent in real time to another user for monitoring.
BACtrack Skyn
On May 19, 2016, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) announced that BACtrack won first prize in the Wearable Alcohol Biosensor Challenge.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/niaaa-selects-winners-its-wearable-alcohol-biosensor-challenge|title=NIAAA selects winners of its Wearable Alcohol Biosensor Challenge|date=2016-05-18|work=National Institutes of Health (NIH)|access-date=2018-05-04|language=en}} The Wearable Alcohol Biosensor Challenge, issued through Challenge.gov in March 2015, called for non-invasive wearable technology that could improve upon existing alcohol biosensor technology used in the criminal justice system. An improved alcohol biosensor could be a valuable resource for the alcohol research community, decreasing reliance on participant self-report in scientific studies.
BACtrack's winning entry, called BACtrack Skyn, is worn on the wrist and measures transdermal alcohol content. Results are transmitted continuously over Bluetooth to a smartphone app.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bactrack.com/pages/bactrack-skyn-wearable-alcohol-monitor|title=BACtrack Skyn™ {{!}} World's 1st Wearable Alcohol Tracker|website=BACtrack|access-date=2018-05-04}} In 2023, an external team of university researchers validated and published open-source code that can be used to model alcohol drinking in research studies using transdermal alcohol data collected from BACtrack Skyn devices.{{Cite journal |last1=Kianersi |first1=Sina |last2=Ludema |first2=Christina |last3=Agley |first3=Jon |last4=Ahn |first4=Yong‐Yeol |last5=Parker |first5=Maria |last6=Ideker |first6=Sophie |last7=Rosenberg |first7=Molly |date=2023-05-30 |title=Development and validation of a model for measuring alcohol consumption from transdermal alcohol content data among college students |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/add.16228 |journal=Addiction |volume=118 |issue=10 |pages=2014–2025 |language=en |doi=10.1111/add.16228 |pmid=37154154 |s2cid=258567341 |issn=0965-2140|pmc=11081732 }}
References
{{Reflist|22wn}}