Narcotics and Explosives Colorimetric Detection
An increasing rate of drug abuse has motivated stringent legislation, and ultimately, the outcome of these cases is placed on reliable identification of controlled substances. This pressure placed on laboratories to analyze field samples is not alleviated by current field identification methods for illicit drug detection. Current field identification methods rely solely on a subjective interpretation of results (color change) using drug-specific colorimetric reactions. Similarly, colorimetric reactions have also been extensively used in the field of explosives analysis with sub-microgram sensitivities. Although current colorimetric field methods enable on-site testing, like narcotics field analysis, theses methods rely solely on subjective interpretation of color with a variety of operational issues due to user influence, including poor training, differences in color interpretation, varied chemical response due to improper storage or mass of sample, all with no multiplexing capability. In addition, contaminants or additives are not accounted for, especially when illicit drug samples are rarely pure, leaving only color changes that directly match the colors given in these kit instructions for positive result consideration. These common complications put an increased burden on local, state, and federal laboratories or highly trained personnel to analyze field samples, negatively affecting the turn-around time for sample processing. A new detection technology that provides a chemical analysis system with an electronic colorimetric detector is needed to address these limitations.
Here, we describe a centrifugal microfluidic system that accepts single-use, disposable microfluidic devices fabricated by the laser print, cut and laminate (PCL) method [1] that exploits the advantages of paper for reagent integration and storage within a polymeric microdevice. This novel polyester-paper hybrid device fabrication method [2] provides a wider bandwidth for assay development while maintaining the centrifugal microfluidic device platform with complex fluidic architecture. An integrated Android cellphone functions as the colorimetric detector with a custom cellphone application for reporting the results in a user-friendly format to identify specific narcotics/explosives or narcotic/explosive groups [3].
References:
[1] Thompson, B.L.; Ouyang, Y.; Duarte, G.R.M.; Carrilho, E.; Krauss, S.T.; Landers, J.P. Nature Protocols (2015) 10, 875-886.
[2] Krauss, S.K.; Holt, V.C.; Landers, J.P. Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical (2017) 246, 740-747.
[3] Krauss, S.K.; Remcho, T.P.; Lipes, S.M.; Aranda IV, R.; Maynard III, H.P.; Shukla, N.; Li, J.; Tontarski Jr., R.E.; Landers, J.P. Analytical Chemistry (2016) 88, 8689-8697.
Here, we describe a centrifugal microfluidic system that accepts single-use, disposable microfluidic devices fabricated by the laser print, cut and laminate (PCL) method [1] that exploits the advantages of paper for reagent integration and storage within a polymeric microdevice. This novel polyester-paper hybrid device fabrication method [2] provides a wider bandwidth for assay development while maintaining the centrifugal microfluidic device platform with complex fluidic architecture. An integrated Android cellphone functions as the colorimetric detector with a custom cellphone application for reporting the results in a user-friendly format to identify specific narcotics/explosives or narcotic/explosive groups [3].
References:
[1] Thompson, B.L.; Ouyang, Y.; Duarte, G.R.M.; Carrilho, E.; Krauss, S.T.; Landers, J.P. Nature Protocols (2015) 10, 875-886.
[2] Krauss, S.K.; Holt, V.C.; Landers, J.P. Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical (2017) 246, 740-747.
[3] Krauss, S.K.; Remcho, T.P.; Lipes, S.M.; Aranda IV, R.; Maynard III, H.P.; Shukla, N.; Li, J.; Tontarski Jr., R.E.; Landers, J.P. Analytical Chemistry (2016) 88, 8689-8697.
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