THIS PROPOSAL DESCRIBES PHASE I OF A THREE-PHASE PROGRAM TO DEVELOP AND COMMERCIALIZE A RESPONSE TESTER (RESTER) TO DETERMINE ALCOHOL-INDUCED IMPAIRMENT OF DRIVING SKILLS.

THIS PROPOSAL DESCRIBES PHASE I OF A THREE-PHASE PROGRAM TO DEVELOP AND COMMERCIALIZE A RESPONSE TESTER (RESTER) TO DETERMINE ALCOHOL-INDUCED IMPAIRMENT OF DRIVING SKILLS. IMPAIRMENT WILL BE ASSESSED USING COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS THAT REQUIRE RESPONSES TO VISUAL DISPLAY. THE DEVICE WILL PAIR CRITICAL FLICKER FREQUENCY (CFF) WITH A SECOND TIME-SHARED TASK AND YIELD A QUANTITATIVE MEASURE OF IMPAIRMENT. PHASE I OF THE PROGRAM WILL DEMONSTRATE PROOF OF CONCEPT AND TECHNICAL FEASIBILITY BY COMPARING RESTER RESULTS FOR A SELECTED POPULATION WITH BLOOD ALCOHOL CONTENT (BAC). PHASE II WILL EXPAND THE SUBJECT POPULATION AND COMPARE RESULTS WITH DRIVING SKILLS TESTS. PHASE III WILL TAKE THE DEVICE FROM PROTOTYPE TO COMMERCIAL PRODUCT. THERE ARE MANY APPLICATIONS FOR AN IMPAIRMENT TESTER. THIS PROGRAM WILL FOCUS ON ITS USE IN IDENTIFYING ALCOHOL-IMPAIRED DRIVERS. THE RESTER WILL BE RUGGED, PORTABLE, EASY TO USE, AND FULLY AUTOMATED TO PERMIT SELF-TESTING BY RESPONSIBLE DRIVERS. THE RESTER CAN ALSO BE INSTALLED IN CARS, RESTAURANTS, AND BARS. THE RESTER COMBINES THE BEST FEATURES OF CURRENTLY AVAILABLE TESTS: LIKE THE BAC TEST, IT IS A QUANTITATIVE AND OBJECTIVE MEASURE, LIKE ROADSIDE ""WALK THE LINE'' TESTS, IT MEASURES IMPAIRMENT.