This month, NIAAA awarded a two-year contract to SpectRx. It is one of five similar agreements approved since September by the agency to produce alcohol-monitoring devices.

Although the devices are aimed at ensuring safety, Dr. Karen Peterson, project officer for advanced research at the NIAAA, acknowledged that such monitors could raise civil-liberties concerns.

"There are protection of privacy issues," she said. "Those kinds of issues will have to be addressed before deciding how these things will be marketed."

Peterson said all of the research firms are using existing technology. For instance, SpectRx is adapting technology from a glucose monitor it developed. Another firm plans to use an implantable device, while another is testing a low-powered laser that would be passed over a person's fingers to get an alcohol reading.

Peterson said several federal agencies, including the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board, have shown interest in continuous alcohol-monitoring devices.

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