During the past decade drug abuse has increased to epidemic levels. The advent of high performance gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometers (GC-TOFMS) has greatly improved monitoring of these drugs and their metabolites in complex matrices such as saliva, plasma, and urine.
The ability to acquire and process data at very rapid rates has facilitated throughput and, combined with modern software tools, streamlined comprehensive profiling of drug-dependent subjects. These individuals use prescription opiates to control pain, and often supplement these opiates with additional non-prescribed medications and illicit drugs. Complete and regular “snapshots” of urine samples can result in better patient monitoring, but more importantly, lead to more effective medical treatment. In this study, we take advantage of the speed, resolution, and robustness of a new high-performance, benchtop GC-TOFMS to increase complex sample throughput, provide confidence in drug analysis results, and afford accurate information on patient drug use.
Using High Performance GC-TOFMS to Effectively Monitor Patient Opioids and other Drug Classes
