BACtrack
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Breathalyzer devices, Health technology |
| Founded | 2001 |
| Founder | Keith Nothacker |
| Headquarters | San Francisco , United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Portable breathalyzers, BACtrack Mobile, BACtrack Skyn, BACtrack View |
| Parent | KHN Solutions |
| Website | www |
BACtrack is a manufacturer of portable breathalyzer devices, operated by KHN Solutions and based in San Francisco, California.
Company history
The company was established in 2001 by entrepreneur Keith Nothacker while he was a senior at the University of Pennsylvania. Initially, BACtrack focused on selling consumer breathalyzers through online platforms.
In 2004, BACtrack achieved U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval to market the AlcoMate CA2000 breathalyzer. This milestone positioned the company among the pioneers to offer personal breathalyzers directly to consumers.
BACtrack Mobile Smartphone Breathalyzer
Introduced on April 23, 2013, the BACtrack Mobile is a compact breathalyzer device that connects wirelessly via Bluetooth LE to smartphones and smart gadgets through an application. It displays estimated blood alcohol content (BAC) readings on the connected device's screen.
Independent evaluations demonstrated that the accuracy of BACtrack Mobile aligns closely with breath alcohol analyzers used by law enforcement agencies, with findings published in the Journal of Injury Prevention.
Awards
In 2013, the BACtrack Mobile Smartphone Breathalyzer was honored with Popular Science magazine's "Best of What’s New Award" in the Health Technology category. Additionally, both the BACtrack Mobile and BACtrack Keychain received top ratings in a 2014 comparison conducted by Car and Driver magazine.
BACtrack Consumption Report
BACtrack released the BACtrack Consumption Report in June 2014, which examined more than 100,000 alcohol test results submitted by users from 35 countries and all 50 states within the United States. The report provides detailed analysis of average blood alcohol levels categorized by city and state, offering valuable data on drinking trends.
BACtrack View
At the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show, BACtrack unveiled BACtrack View, recognized as the first remote alcohol monitoring system compatible with smartphones. This technology utilizes the front camera on iOS or Android devices to record individuals blowing into the BACtrack Mobile device. It then transmits real-time BAC data along with timestamps and geographic location to an assigned monitor.
BACtrack Skyn
On May 19, 2016, BACtrack earned first place in the Wearable Alcohol Biosensor Challenge hosted by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). The contest aimed to identify advanced, non-invasive wearable technologies capable of enhancing alcohol biosensor precision beyond existing tools used in criminal justice settings. Such innovations are significant for alcohol research by minimizing dependence on self-reported consumption information.
The award-winning product, BACtrack Skyn, is a wrist-worn sensor that continuously detects transdermal alcohol levels and wirelessly sends data via Bluetooth to a smartphone application. In 2023, academic researchers validated this technology and released open-source software for modeling alcohol intake using data collected from BACtrack Skyn, supporting its application in scientific investigations.