| Intoximeters |
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Intoximeters, Inc. is a privately held company headquartered in St.
Louis, Missouri USA and with a satellite office in Totnes, Devon
UK.
Intoximeters produces and markets a full line of alcohol breath testing
instruments.
Since 1945 Intoximeters has been a leader in the breath
alcohol detection field. Early on, law enforcement agencies were the
only customers for this type of equipment. However, as the extent of
alcohol abuse in our society became more recognized, other markets for
our products have developed - most notably in the industrial
occupational health sector. Although initially driven by federal
mandates, the costs associated with alcohol abuse in the workplace have
encouraged more and more employers to institute alcohol and drug testing
on their own to reduce absenteeism, worker's compensation costs,
accident insurance costs and to improve overall safety in their
workplaces. Intoximeters' products, designed for use in unforgiving law
enforcement applications, have been easily adapted for a wide range of
industrial applications.
Intoximeters has fully utilized advances in both sensor and data
processing technologies. Today there are a wide variety of mandated
testing protocols at the local, state and federal levels, many with
strict reporting requirements. Intoximeters has responded to this market
need by developing a complete line of instruments with advanced data
processing and communications capabilities. In conjunction with a PC, a
single instrument can perform tests in compliance with a variety of
protocols, test data can be collected via modem from a network of breath
testing instruments and test data as well as the entire testing program
can be managed securely and efficiently.
Intoximeters Inc. Also provides comprehensive customer support by
offering training courses in the operation and maintenance of each of
its instruments and associated software products.
The following is a brief history of Intoximeters products and
technology advancements:
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| 1937 |
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The company founder, Dr. Glenn C. Forrester,
discovered and patented a process for capturing alcohol from a breath
sample. The result was the development of a portable, roadside
instrument used to collect evidence in suspected drunk driving cases.
Breath sampling was an innovative technique for blood alcohol
determination at that time.
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| 1937 - 1941 |
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Dr. Forrester devoted most of his energy to
research and pilot studies to establish the validity of breath alcohol
analysis, until World War II interrupted his efforts..
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| 1945 |
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Intoximeters was incorporated by Dr. Forrester.
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| 1947 |
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The State of Michigan initiated a statewide breath
testing program using the portable Intoximeter. Dr. Forrester's
success in these early efforts eventually gained wide support in the
forensic community for breath alcohol analysis.
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| Mid to Late 1950's |
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The Photo-Electric Intoximeter
(registered originally by Dr. Forrester) used deep lung breath of a
fixed volume and pre-packaged chemicals in conjunction with
photoelectric measurements to determine blood alcohol concentration.
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| In the 1970's |
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Intoximeters brought to market a flame
ionization Gas Chromatograph (GCI MKII and MKIV). These
instruments could directly sample a subject's breath or they could
analyze a breath sample collected at another location using the Indium
Encapsulation System. These indium tubes capture three separate
samples of a breath specimen. The collected samples would be preserved
until they could be presented to the GC for analysis.
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| Mid 1970's |
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Intoximeters introduces the first of the Alco
Sensor line of handheld breath alcohol analyzers. This line of
handheld fuel cell instruments is the most prolific line of evidential
grade alcohol breath test instruments made to date.
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| Late 1970's |
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Intoximeters introduces the first evidential
fuel cell based instrument. The "Auto Intoximeter" (Auto
I)
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| 1980's |
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Intoximeters offers the Intoximeters IR
3000 infrared based evidential system. This analyzer lead breath
testing into the computer age. The IR 3000 was the first to integrate a
computer with a breath test instrument. The system allowed the operator
to collect data about the subject and the arrest and attach it to a test
result.
1981 - IR 3000 is offered with a dual sensor system including a
tin oxide sensor. This device was used to identify compounds that
could be found in the human breath and might interfere with the
infrared analysis.
1983 - IR 3000 is offered with a fuel cell as a second sensor.
This device is the first dual analytical fuel cell infrared analyzer
commercially available for evidential breath testing.
1983 - The IR 3000 used in Alaska is offered as an evidential
breath test system that utilizes a dry gas standard for performing
periodic accuracy checks.
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| 1990 |
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Intoximeters implements a patented analysis technique
in the Alco Sensor IV where the fuel cell signal is integrated,
and this integration is used in the determination of the alcohol
concentration. This technique proves to be a benchmark improvement in
fuel cell analysis in that it overcomes the "slumping" effect
that is evident in systems that use a pure "peak" or rate of
reaction analysis. This patent allows the Intoximeters' fuel cell
instruments which employ this technique to offer accuracy and
repeatability on par with the desktop evidential systems.
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| 1993 |
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Intoximeters introduces the Intox EC/IR. This
instrument sets the standard for bench top, fuel cell based evidential
systems. With its use in several US states as the primary evidential
testing system and its approval and use in the UK for drink drive
enforcement, the EC/IR offers features and an ease of maintenance that
make it an attractive alternative to infrared based analyzers.
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| 1994 -1995 |
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The US Department of Transportation mandates
workplace alcohol testing for safety sensitive positions that fall under
the DOT jurisdiction. This group includes truck drivers, pilots, train
conductors, ship captains to name a few.
A suite of products (using existing or new platforms) were introduced
to meet this markets needs:
- Alco Sensor IV /RBTIV
- Alco Sensor IV with memory and serial printer
- Alco Sensor IV with Alco Sensor IV Utility
- AlcoMonitor CC
- Intox EC/IR
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| 1997 |
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Intoximeters places more than 300 Intox
EC/IR
instruments in UK police constabularys. To support a growing sales
demand in Europe, an office in the UK is opened to offer both marketing
and after sales support for Intoximeters products. |
| 2000 |
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Intoximeters introduces its first @ Point of Arrest™ Testing System:
Alco Sensor IV XL @ Point of Arrest™
Point of Arrest Testing is a response to the "Rising blood
alcohol" contention which is a common defense used to challenge
breath test results in court. Roadside evidential testing systems are
one solution to eliminate this concern.
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| 2004 |
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Intoximeters introduces the EC/IR II and Alco-Sensor FST:
The EC/IR II, the replacement for the benchtop EC/IR in the Intoximeter product is introduced to the market and selected for use in statewide
programs in West Virginia and Tennessee.
The Alco-Sensor FST is the latest instrument in the Alco-Sensor Product Line that offers automated
sampling at a low cost. The Alco-Sensor FST offers integral design features that are aimed at enhancing operator safety during its use.
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