Manufacturer Upgrades Its Alcohol Consumption Monitoring Device

BI, Inc. a manufacturer of compliance monitoring technology for community offenders, has announced an upgraded version of the company’s BI-TAD alcohol consumption monitoring bracelet.

The BI-TAD is an ankle-worn bracelet which measures an offender’s alcohol consumption levels through vapors and perspiration passing through the skin. The device also features radio-frequency circuitry to detect the presence of the offender in their own home at a given time. The upgraded BI-TAD sensor now includes wireless functionality allowing it to transmit compliance data through the cellular network to a remote base station. The device log can then be checked against an offender’s profile to see if he is adhering to specific curfews or drinking restrictions.

From the press release:

TAD consists of an ankle-worn bracelet, which includes a sensor that detects drinking events; a base station placed in the offender’s home; and a host computer maintained at BI’s national monitoring center. The TAD sensor measures for drinking via sweat or vapor, logs that data in the home base station, which then wirelessly forwards that data to the host server. That data is then matched against an offender’s profile, and supervising authorities are alerted if abnormalities exist.

Other TAD features include:

  • Waterproof (up to three feet)
  • Durable design that holds up in challenging environments
  • Receiver that operates via landline or cellular connection
  • Alerts in multiple forms (fax, email, PDA) are sent to supervising officers
  • Six-month field-replaceable battery
  • Lightweight device weighs eight ounces
  • Extensive tamper-resistant features to ensure system reliability
  • 24/7 technical support from monitoring center and product specialists
  • Secure officer login available at www.bi.com
  • Variable range settings for curfew monitoring
  • Compatibility with other BI products, including GPS tracking

Though the system is intended for law enforcement, it’s not such a leap to see these devices being used for clinical applications. For example, screening of eligible kidney recipients or monitoring of patients for whom alcohol is contraindicated. In any case, those of us who like to nip out for a sneaky pint when we should be getting the lawn done should probably keep this to ourselves.

Press release: BI Incorporated announces BI TAD® cellular capability

BI-TAD overview flash slides…

BI-TAD fact sheet… (.pdf)

Product page: BI TAD

*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*


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