Novel Miniature Mass Spectrometer Moves Cocaine Measurement to the Field

A novel device for field testing of cocaine and other drugs comprises a portable mass spectrometer and a system for rapid drying and extracting urine samples.

To avoid the problem of transferring samples for drug analysis to distant central laboratories, investigators at the University of Toronto (Canada) designed a custom digital microfluidic system to deliver droplets of solvent to dried urine samples and then transport extracted analytes to an array of nanoelectrospray emitters for analysis. Tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) detection was performed using a fully autonomous 25 kg instrument.

Using this method, the investigators demonstrated that cocaine, benzoylecgonine, and codeine could be quantified from four samples in less than 15 minutes from (dried) sample to analysis. The limit of quantization (LOQ) for cocaine was 40 ng/mL, which is compatible with the performance criteria for laboratory analyses established by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. The LOQ of the new method was superior to the 300 ng/mL cutoff values attained by immunoassay-based portable analysis systems.

The miniature MS system is attractive for the quantization of drugs of abuse from urine and, more generally, may be useful for a wide range of applications that would benefit from portable, quantitative, on-site analysis.

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