Title:
Vapor phase detection of a narcotic using surface acoustic wave immunoassay sensors
Vapor phase detection of a narcotic using surface acoustic wave immunoassay sensors
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Author(s)
Stubbs, Desmond D.
Lee, Sang-Hun
Hunt, William D.
Lee, Sang-Hun
Hunt, William D.
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Abstract
Currently, the narcotic sniffing dog remains the most
accurate, reliable, and widely used sensing technology in the
war on drugs. However, recent studies done at the Institute for
Biological Detection Systems at Auburn University, Auburn, AL,
have shown that in the presence of extraneous odors (nontarget
odors), these animals show a higher propensity for so-called false
alarms. For this reason, there have been an increasing demand
for a portable, highly specific vapor-sensing device capable of
distinguishing a target vapor signature in a complex odor. In this
paper, we present the results of a series of experiments demonstrating
real-time vapor phase detection of cocaine molecules. A
distinctive response or signature was observed under laboratory
conditions, where the cocaine vapors were presented using an
INEL vapor generator and under “field” conditions facilitated
by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab. For these
experiments, the sensor component was an ST-X quartz resonator
with a center frequency of approximately 250-MHz. anti-benzoylecgonine
(anti-BZE) antibodies are attached to the electrodes
on the device surface via a protein-A cross linker. We observed
a large transient frequency shift accompanied by baseline shift
with the anti-BZE coated sensor. After repeated experiments and
the use of numerous controls, we believe that we have achieved
real-time molecular recognition of cocaine molecules.
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Date Issued
2005-06
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