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© 1996 Medical Council on Alcohol

research-article

SIMPLE VERSUS SOPHISTICATED MODELS OF BREATH ALCOHOL EXHALATION PROFILES

SHARON R. LUBKIN*, ROD G. GULLBERG1, BARRY K. LOGAN2, PHILIP K. MAINI3 and J. D. MURRAY

Department of Applied Mathematics, Box 352420, University of Washington, Seattle WA 98195–2420, USA
1Washington State Patrol, Breath Test Section 811 E Roanoke, Seattle, WA 98102, USA
2Washington State Toxicology Laboratory, Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of Washington Park 90/5 Ste. 360, 2203 Airport Way S, Seattle, WA 98134, USA
3Centre for Mathematical Biology, Mathematical Institute 24-29 St Giles', Oxford OX1 3LB, UK

*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed

Received 14 February 1995; first review notified 31 May 1995; accepted 28 July 1995

For medicolegal purposes, breath alcohol content is typically determined from an end-expiratory sample. Measurements obtained by this method necessarily underestimate the alveolar breath alcohol content, and therefore underestimate the blood alcohol content. We suggest and analyse an improved paradigm which uses the entire time-series of breath alcohol measurements during exhalation, not simply the last recorded value. We present two mathematical models for the exhaling lung, and discuss the implications of each for more accurate and therefore more reliable breath alcohol measurement.


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