Rapid, accessible and highly accurate detection of addictive substances such as opiates and cocaine is vital to reducing the adverse personal and societal impacts of addiction, something current drug detection systems can take too long to provide. However, on-site, real-time monitoring of abused drugs in a patient's system could alert clinicians before dangerous levels are reached, and such an approach may not be far away.
Drug detection methods for addiction patients are slow-moving and not nimble enough because of the complexity of the current system, according to Slava V. Rotkin, Frontier Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics with an appointment in the Materials Research Institute, at Penn State. Rotkin is a co-author of a review paper in the nanotechnology journal Small that posited a possible solution: biosensors.
