Critical performance of a new breath alcohol analyzer for screening applications

In screening applications there is a need for improved breath alcohol analyzers. Accuracy, specificity, usability, and through-put are critical to the device performance. Objective: To characterize the critical performance of a new contactless breath alcohol analyzer. Methods: The device is characterized by measurements using artificial breath gas and human subjects. Breath sampling is performed in ambient air using carbon dioxide as a biomarker. Results: Resolution and inter-individual variation, response time, and specificity were shown to meet the requirements of industrial standards. The feasibility of contactless measurement was demonstrated. Conclusions: The new device exhibits sufficient performance in moderately diluted breath samples. Further work is underway to reach the objective of unobtrusive breath alcohol analysis.