Non-Invasive Methods for Detecting Drug and Alcohol Impaired Drivers : - a Study of Alcohol and Drug Biomarkers and Optical Detection Techniques

Sammanfattning: In recent years, the use of alcohol and psychoactive drugs in combination withdriving has recieved increased attention. The lack of in-vehicle devices capable ofdetecting recent drug consumption and the difficulties associated with the breathbasedalcolocks in use today makes it interesting to investigate methods that areable to non-invasivelly measure analytes directly in the blood. The assignment of this project, commissioned by Volvo Technology Corporationand Volvo Car Corporation, is to map substances that constitute a possible threatto traffic safety, identify suitable detection markers as a proof of administrationof these substances, and study possible non-invasive techniques to detect thesemarkers. The objective is to present for Volvo if and how to continue evaluatingand developing a non-invasive detection device. The project has been carried out by performing an extensive literature study and averification experiment. From the literature review, a number of substances affectingdriving performance could be identified, and a metabolic study was performedfor each drug to map suitable biomarkers. Furthermore, two potential techniquesfor non-invasive detection, near-infrared Raman spectroscopy and near-infraredspectroscopy, were found and evaluated. The experiment was conducted usingnear-infrared Raman spectroscopy, with the aim of investigating the sensitivityand linearity of the method for ethanol detection. Based on the theoretical evaluation, both near-infrared Raman spectroscopy andnear-infrared spectroscopy are expected to have potential for non-invasive detectionof ethanol. The experiment further proved the theoretical conclusionsmade for near-infrared Raman spectroscopy. However, neither of the techniquesis thought to have potential for drug detection.Altogether, we believe that non-invasive ethanol detection is possible, but suggestfurther experiments in order to determine which technique to be preferred.