SIMPLE VERSUS SOPHISTICATED MODELS OF BREATH ALCOHOL EXHALATION PROFILES

For medicolegal purposes, breath alcohol content is typically determin ed from an end-expiratory sample. Measurements obtained by this method necessarily underestimate the alveolar breath alcohol content, and th erefore underestimate the blood alcohol content. We suggest and analys e an improved paradigm which uses the entire time-series of breath alc ohol measurements during exhalation, not simply the last recorded valu e. We present two mathematical models for the exhaling lung, and discu ss the implications of each for more accurate and therefore more relia ble breath alcohol measurement.