Point-of-Care Monitoring for Drugs of Abuse

Introduction

Therapeutic Drugs of Abuse testing for critical point-of-care treatment, such as in drug treatment facilities or pain clinics, has traditionally been arduous, expensive and time consuming, requiring a third-party laboratory for analysis. Sending samples to a commercial laboratory creates delays, which increases diffi culty in making informed decisions at the critical time-of-need. Due to these factors, on-site liquid chromatography (LC) analysis at the local clinic is a requisite for timely evaluation and effective treatment. A point-of-care LC system must be easy to use, self-contained, safe for the user, hand portable, and compact to be effective (i.e., occupy a very small footprint on a counter or desk and be easily moved from place to place). The innovative Axcend Focus LC® (AFLC) is the latest exciting analytical tool for clinicians, and it is changing the effi ciency and effectiveness of drug treatment in a major way. As a hand-portable and self-contained system, it can be used in ways that previous LC systems could not. The features of the AFLC allow for instant on-demand operation, easy use and reliable performance in an offi ce or at any selected location, with performance equally accurate as to when positioned on a traditional laboratory bench.

◯ = lowest
⬤ = highest

Current Techniques

Present diagnostic techniques available to clinics for drugs of abuse testing offer benefi ts such as speed or low cost; however, none of them provide the results required for making informed critical decisions at the time the client is tested. For example, test strips offer fast results, but may not be able to confi rm which drug of abuse is present. They also are not sensitive enough to detect residual amounts of a substance. On the other hand, the AFLC can provide both speed and sensitivity at the time-of-need. The table below presents the features and benefi ts of current techniques:

LC-UV Testing Panels

The below Chromatograms depict the AFLC analysis of 6 Drugs of Abuse Testing Panels for different classes of compounds targeted by current immunoassay tests. Each peak represents a specific illicit drug of interest. These results can be obtained in six minutes or less as represented on the x-axis of the chromatograms.

Summary

• The Axcend Focus LC is well suited for point-of-care Drugs of Abuse testing.
• Replacing immunoassays with more specifi c portable LC is straightforward and easy.
• The data handling capabilities of the AFLC allows for clear reporting of each Drug of Abuse.
• The self-contained design of the AFLC makes it safe to use at the point-of-need.