In most cases the human body is quite good at eliminating alcohol from its system. Sure, it may take more or less time, but it gets the job done.
To give our bodies a little boost, a team of Canadian scientists built ClearMate. It is a mask-like device that can help sober up faster with a mechanism to eliminate alcohol and make those who use it sober.
The sobriety machine
The device is inspired by a circumstance: anyone with alcohol in their blood exhales it slowly, a little at a time, through the breath. This led scientists at the University Health Network of Toronto to wonder if some kind of induced hyperventilation could speed up the process and eliminate alcohol more quickly.
After all, hyperventilation moves oxygen out of the body three times faster than normal, according to the research published Thursday in Scientific Reports. Except for one thing: the human body is not equipped to hyperventilate for too long.
This is where ClearMate comes in
Little more than an oxygen mask connected to a strange briefcase-shaped pump, the alcohol-eliminating device discharges a mixture of carbon dioxide and oxygen that induces hyperventilation. The special feature is that ClearMate also prevents the wearer from fainting.
The method is so simple and obvious that even looking at it, no one recognizes its potential
Doctor Joseph Fisher, anesthetist and author of the study
Fun fact: how did they test the machine to eliminate alcohol and make you sober?
The ClearMate was tested on volunteers who were asked to get a little tipsy with vodka. Not bad if it becomes a safe and paid job. Testing a device for sobering has only positives, I guess.
Fisher, however, suggests that the device would also be useful in emergency medicine, to counteract ethyl coma and other conditions.
“The higher the concentration of alcohol in the blood, the more effective the method,” says the doctor. A bit like losing weight, more marked and evident in those who have a lot of kilos. “If the patient is unconscious, a tube can be placed in the lungs to protect the patient's breathing and the method can then be applied manually.”
