April 6th, 2006
Infrared Beam Can Scan for Drunk Drivers
By Alice Hill
RealTechNews
Here’s a new technology that will allow a police officer to “scan” for drunk drivers using infrared technology. (Alice: Isn’t infrared (IR) a little “old school”?) The technology was developed to help diabetics scan their blood instead of using the painful pin-prick method, but now it looks like the law is getting in on the action. More on that in a minute.
The company’s device generates a beam of infrared (IR) radiation and channels this through optical fibres into a cradle designed to attach to a forearm. When a suspect’s arm is placed in the cradle, the infrared light penetrates to a depth of 5 millimetres and the reflected light is picked up by a bunch of IR sensors. The beam is constantly moved over the skin to avoid burning it.
The reflected beam is combined with the original one to create an interference pattern. This will change depending on the amount infrared absorbed, which will depend on levels of alcohol in the blood. To calibrate the device, the inventors took 1500 measurements from 133 subjects (to simulate a range of sobriety) and compared the results with both blood samples and breath tests. Source: New Scientist
We Say: Since the device get all wacky after about two years, it means a lawyer can probably can and will challenge the accuracy. For diabetics though, this might be welcomed relief, again, assuming the results can be trusted.
NASAdude says:
While this may be a bit “old school”, I’d be more impressed with a multi-spectrum scanner that could remotely examine drivers as they pass by the sensor. This device could be mounted a mile before the “trap” and anyone suspected of being over the legal limit could be pulled over for more accurate testing.
To work best, it would need to be a passive sensor, so no DUI-detector-detectors could be built. Unfortunately, this may limit functionality at night when the ambient lighting spectrum and intensity may not be optimal.
While IR might be sufficient for a local sensor, going with a multi-spectrum array likely would give better results for remote sensing. This all could be stored digitally along with a visible-spectrum image for review and verification. If skin-response is the key, image analysis would be required to isolate the driver, then isolate bare skin such as the face.
If accuracy is a concern, then follow-up testing of the driver with more conventional/accepted methods would be needed. The device could even broadcast the images and results over an encrypted channel to the officer’s location, so only one manned location would be needed.
The widespread use of such a device might incur a lot of privacy debate, but would likely succeed since it’s used in a public place. If such a device could be developed, it would be a great tool to reduce the problem of DUI/DWI.
This all may be a bit pie-in-the-sky, but a scientist can always dream.
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