Originally published by MailOnline
MailOnline reports on the launch of the world’s first portable fingerprint drug test by Intelligent Fingerprinting, which analyses sweat from fingerprints to detect recent drug use. The article focuses on the technology’s potential to enable fingerprint drug tests to facilitate workplace drug screening programmes, which currently rely on the collection of urine or saliva samples. It also describes applications for fingerprint drug testing in courts, drug rehabilitation and coroner services. In contrast to conventional drug tests, the fingerprint drug test from Intelligent Fingerprinting is quick and easy to collect, providing drug screening results for opiates, cocaine, amphetamines and cannabis within 10 minutes.
The Device That Can Sniff Out the Weekend Drug-Takers by Detecting Small Traces of Illegal Substances in Less Than 10 Minutes
- Device detects if someone has been using illegal drugs in less than ten minutes
- It can test for cocaine, opiates, cannabis and amphetamine metabolites
- The fingerprint sample takes five seconds to collect and is painless
- It gives results in less than ten minutes and is as accurate as urine samples
People who take drugs at the weekend have a new reason to fear facing work on Monday morning.
Researchers have created the first portable drug test which detects if someone has been using illegal substances in less than ten minutes.
The device costs just a few pounds, and initial applications for the system include testing people in the workplace, in court and in mortuaries.
The Reader 1000 can accurately test for four main drug groups – cocaine, opiates, cannabis and amphetamine metabolites.
The fingerprint sample takes five seconds to collect and generally gives results in less than ten minutes.
Created by Cambridge-based company Intelligent Fingerprinting, the device could also be used by companies where drug abuse affects people’s ability to work.
They now believe the technology is as accurate as urine tests.
It has been used to determine whether drugs were a factor in unexplained deaths at Sheffield Medico-Legal Centre – an organisation that provides treatment for adults with drug and alcohol problems in Norfolk.
Most tests analyse saliva, urine and hair to find out if someone has taken drugs, but it is not always easy to get hold of samples.
The sensor – which consists of a fingerprint sample collection Cartridge and the portable Reader 1000 analysis unit – works by analysing the tiny traces of sweat contained in a fingerprint.
The four drug groups detected by Intelligent Fingerprinting’s Drug Screening Cartridge cover the majority of mainstream drug misuse.
The test could also be used by coroners in mortuaries to provide early intelligence on drug use in order to find out if a full post-mortem is needed.
‘Our portable fingerprint drug test means that organisations can now screen for drug use almost anywhere at any time’, said Dr Jerry Walker, Intelligent Fingerprinting’s CEO.
‘It only takes a few seconds to collect a fingerprint for analysis, and our revolutionary technology offers a much more hygienic and dignified means of testing compared with conventional drug tests that require bio-hazardous samples such as urine or saliva,’ said Dr Walker.
‘Following successful UK market trials and validation, it’s clear that fingerprint samples are not only much easier to collect and process, but also deliver when it comes to the rigorous analysis required for drug use diagnostics.’
