The DataMaster pictured above is an example of a Infared Alcohol Testing Instrument. Although they employ high technology and are run by trained users they still have limitations like all machines. The following is an overview of one such machine called a DataMaster.

TheDataMaster measures breath alcohol levels employing the time-tested technology of Absorption of Infrared Energy, setting performance levels unmatched by other instruments or technologies. Some of the features that enable this high level of performance are:

     Thermo-electrically cooled infrared detector
     1.1 Meter folded optical path
     50cc sample cell
     Exceptionally narrow bandwidth optical fibers
     Grey Body infrared energy source
     Thermistor flow detection

The thermo-electrically cooled PbSe detector operates at 0șC. It is a well-established fact that the cooler the operating temperature of a detector, the more sensitive it becomes, allowing the detection of much smaller signals. By regulating this operating temperature the detector output becomes more stable, enhancing the repeatability, precision and low-level performance of the DataMaster.

The 1.1 meter (43") folded optical path gives the DataMaster the ability to perform accurately and consistently at levels as low as .001 BrAC. The infrared energy must travel this full 1.1 meters through the breath sample before focusing onto the detector. This distance, the longest in use, permits maximum energy absorption, enabling the DataMaster to achieve accuracy of ±.002 at a .100 BrAC.

A small 50cc sample cell ensuring the validity of the breath sample across a wide range of subject vital capacities (lung) and blowing patterns.

The narrow bandwidth optical filters allow the passage of a very limited frequency range of infrared energy, permitting the DataMaster to be highly specific for not only ethanol, but to the virtual exclusion of other alcohols and potentially interfering compounds. The specificity of the DataMaster system is comparable to or exceeds that of other systems using multiple optical filters. Interferent threshold detection is user definable and can be set as low as .001 BrAC.

The Grey Body infrared energy source produces primarily infrared energy with very little unusable visible light. This maximizes the power usage, enabling the DataMaster system to operate cooler, with greater stability and more efficiency than with any other type of energy source.

Thermistor flow detection is the most sensitive and easiest to use method available to monitor the flow of breath through the instrument. This makes possible a sample acceptance algorithm with a minimal breath volume requirement. With virtually no back pressure, flow detection is possible at almost any level of breath pressure.