System and Method for Drug Detection in Exhaled Breath

Abstract

A portable system is disclosed for collecting a sample from exhaled breath of a subject. Drug substance in the exhaled breath are detected or determined. The sample is collected for further analysis using mass-spectroscopy. The system comprises a sampling unit and a housing arranged to hold the sampling unit, the sampling unit is adapted to collect non-volatile and volatile compounds of the at least one drug substance from the exhaled breath from the subject. The housing has at least one inlet for the subject to exhale into the housing to the sampling unit and at least one outlet for the exhaled breath to exit through.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A portable system configured to collect a sample from exhaled breath of a subject, and for detecting the presence or determining the quantitative amount of at least one drug substance in said exhaled breath,
 said system being adapted to collect said sample for further analysis using mass-spectroscopy, said system comprising:
 a sampling unit and a housing arranged to hold said sampling unit, 
 said sampling unit is adapted to collect at least one of non-volatile and volatile compounds of said at least one drug substance from said exhaled breath from said subject; and 
 wherein said housing comprises at least one inlet for said subject to exhale into said housing to said sampling unit and at least one outlet for said exhaled breath to exit through. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system according to  claim 1 , comprising a detachable mouthpiece element connectable to said inlet in communication with said housing element. 
     
     
         3 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein said housing is a SPE cartridge. 
     
     
         4 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein said housing is a sorbent tube. 
     
     
         5 . The system according to  claim 1 , comprising a pump, wherein said pump is arranged downstream said sampling unit. 
     
     
         6 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the pressure drop through said system is not higher than 2 cm water. 
     
     
         7 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein said sampling unit comprises at least one filter membrane. 
     
     
         8 . The system according to  claim 7 , wherein said filter membrane is has a mesh size to collect particles from said exhaled breath with a size of 0.2-0.7 μm. 
     
     
         9 . The system according to  claim 7 , wherein said filter membrane is configured such that a pressure drop of less than 2 cm water occurs between said inlet and outlet at a exhalation flow rate of about 0-9 litre/min. 
     
     
         10 . The system according to  claim 7 , wherein said collected particles from said filter are analyzable by said mass-spectroscopy. 
     
     
         11 . The system according to  claim 7 , wherein said filter membrane is a electrostatic filter membrane. 
     
     
         12 . The system according to  claim 7 , wherein said at least on filter membrane comprises at least two filter membranes configured to discriminate between at least two different drug substances. 
     
     
         13 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein said sampling unit comprises at least one SPME-cartridge to be further analyzed using GC-MS. 
     
     
         14 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein a compartment for collecting at least one of saliva or condensate is disposed between said at least one inlet and said sampling unit and/or after said sampling unit and said at least one outlet. 
     
     
         15 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein said at least one of non-volatile or volatile compounds of said at least one drug substance in said exhaled breath are compounds that can pass from the subject's blood via the lung membrane. 
     
     
         16 . The system according to  claim 15 , wherein said drug substance comprises at least one of Amphetamine, ecstasy,  Cannabis , THC and cannabinoids, Opiates, heroin, morphine, 6-AM, Cocaine, Benzodiazepines, Propoxyphene, Methadone, Buprenorphine, Tramadol, LSD, Designer/Internet drugs, Kathinon, GHB, Meprobamat, Z-drugs, Tryptamines, Anabolic steroids, Alcohol, or markers for alcohol. 
     
     
         17 . A method for portably collecting a sample from exhaled breath of a subject, and for detecting the presence or determining the quantitative amount of at least one drug substance in said exhaled breath, said method comprising:
 collecting said sample comprising at least one of a non-volatile or volatile compound from said subject, using a system comprising a sampling unit and a housing arranged to hold said sampling unit, wherein said sampling unit is adapted to collect at least one of non-volatile and volatile compounds of said at least one drug substance from said exhaled breath from said subject, and in said housing comprises at least one inlet for said subject to exhale into said housing to said sampling unit and at least one outlet for said exhaled breath to exit through; and   analyzing said collected sample using mass-spectroscopy.   
     
     
         18 . The method according to  claim 17 , wherein said collecting comprises collecting at least one of non-volatile or volatile compounds of said at least one drug substance from said exhaled breath from said subject in a sampling unit held in a housing of said system. 
     
     
         19 . The method according to  claim 18 , wherein said collecting comprises said subject exhaling into at least one inlet of said housing to said sampling unit and further to at least one outlet to exit from said housing. 
     
     
         20 . The method according to  claim 17 , comprising generating suction by means of a pump arranged downstream said sampling unit.