Development of a Noninvasive In-Vehicle Alcohol Biosensor Using Wavelength-Modulated Differential Photothermal Radiometry

Drunk driving is, in Canada, the leading cause of death on the roads. To reduce the number of drinking and driving incidences, new technologies were developed to accurately measure blood alcohol concentration (BAC) and overcome the limitations of current alcohol measuring technologies. In this research, a non-contacting, non-invasive in-vehicle alcohol biosensor is developed using laser-based Wavelength-Modulated Differential Photothermal Radiometry (WM-DPTR). After demonstrating the alcohol measuring capability of the WMDPTR-based alcohol biosensor, a calibration method is developed for the biosensor using a combined theoretical and experimental approach. Evaluation of the calibrated biosensor shows that the proposed biosensor can achieve high accuracy and precision for the ethanol concentration range of 0-100 mg/dL and be incorporated in ignition interlocks that could be fitted as a universal accessory in vehicles in efforts to reduce the incidents of drunk driving.