LOW-COST NONINVASIVE MEASUREMENT OF BLOOD ALCOHOL

EFFECTIVE DIAGNOSIS, TREATMENT, AND PREVENTION OF ALCOHOLISMAND ALCOHOL-RELATED PROBLEMS REQUIRE ACCURATE, NONINVASIVE MEASUREMENT OF BLOOD ALCOHOL CONCENTRATION. SEMICONDUCTOR SENSORS ARE WIDELY USED IN BREATHALYZERS OWING TO THEIR HIGHSENSITIVITY, DURABILITY, SMALL SIZE, AND LOW COST. BUT THESE SENSORS RESPOND TO MANY COMMON GASES, PREVENTING SELECTIVE ETHANOL MEASUREMENT. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL OVERCOME THIS PROBLEM BY MERGING MICROPROCESSOR AND SENSOR TECHNOLOGIES FOR LOW-COST YET HIGHLY ACCURATE ETHANOL MEASUREMENT. THIS PHASE I RESEARCH DEMONSTRATES FEASIBILITYOF THE TECHNIQUE FOR SELECTIVE ALCOHOL MEASUREMENT BY: (1) CHARACTERIZING THE RESPONSES OF PRESENTLY AVAILABLE SEMI- CONDUCTOR SENSORS TO ETHANOL, HUMIDITY, AND REPRESENTATIVE INTERFERENCES; (2) DEVELOPING COMPUTER SOFTWARE TO DECON- VOLVE THESE RESPONSES TO SELECTIVELY MEASURE ETHANOL; AND (3) DETERMINING THE TECHNIQUE'S ROBUSTNESS WITH RESPECT TO THE INTERFERENCES. IN PHASE II, SENSOR MATERIALS WILL BE OPTIMIZED FOR PORTABILITY, MINIMAL POWER CONSUMPTION, AND DETECTION ACCURACY IN ORDER TO MICROFABRICATE A SINGLE-CHIP SENSOR ARRAY SUITED FOR LOW-COST BREATHALYZERS. SUCCESSFUL RESEARCH WILL RESULT IN SIMPLE, RUGGED, POCKET-SIZED BREATH-ALYZERS THAT COMPRISE A MICROFABRICATED SINGLE-CHIP GAS- ANALYSIS PROBE AND A LOW-COST MICROCOMPUTER. THESE APPLIANCE INSTRUMENTS MAY BE APPLIED TO CHEMICAL VERIFICA- TION OF TREATMENT COMPLIANCE, CONSUMER SELF-EVALUATION OF DEGREE OF INTOXICATION, IGNITION LOCKS FOR AUTOMOBILES, AND USE BY LAW-ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES.