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About the Technology
The Science : Alcohol in the Body
As alcohol is ingested, it is absorbed into a persons' blood stream and distributed via the circulatory system throughout the body. Alcohol is then eliminated from the body by either being metabolized or excreted in unaltered form.
Once consumed, alcohol is seen in the body as ethyl alcohol molecules. Approximately 90% of the consumed alcohol is eliminated from the body by the converting the ethyl alcohol molecules to carbon dioxide and water. A small percentage of the consumed alcohol is excreted in an unaltered form via urine, breath, saliva, perspiration/sweat or where ever water is removed from the body.
This unaltered alcohol which permeates from the skin in perspiration is called insensible perspiration. Although this is a small percentage of the total amount of alcohol consumed, it can be accurately measured and used to determine the percent of alcohol in a persons blood.
The Arrive Alive system's passive detection of alcohol through contact with the drivers skin is accomplished by monitoring for the presence of alcohol through insensible perspiration, along with other complimentary biomedical metrics. The unique characteristic of the Arrive Alive system is that of consistent contact with the driver, as the sensor technology is integrated into the steering wheel of the motor vehicle. This eliminates the potential for the system to be compromised through inputs from a passenger or other person. Consistent contact with the driver also provides for system awareness of alcohol consumption after the car is started. Anytime the system detects that the alcohol level in the driver's body exceeds predetermined thresholds, action is then taken to limit or prevent the operation of the vehicle.
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