Integrating a low-barrier drug checking platform into public health responses to overdose

确保更安全的药品供应的措施是减少过量用药的重要组成部分 死亡。芬太尼试纸快速、敏感、廉价，但不能提供任何信息 关于效力、纯度或其他有害掺杂物的存在。迫切需要 可以识别存在的所有组件并提供有关 有效成分的浓缩。不列颠哥伦比亚省是加拿大吸毒过量的中心 危机和温哥华岛服药过量死亡率是全国的两倍多 平均水平。维多利亚大学的研究人员和学生实习生在 使用便携式光谱学检查药物，作为对过量服药的公共卫生反应。 在与岛屿卫生管理局的合作下，我们建议扩大我们目前的药物 检查服务以支持一种有可能满足所有需求的技术： 对低浓度检测高度敏感，实现广泛分布的低成本，以及易用性 用于消除或显著减少科学家操作仪器的需要 并解释结果。我们是化学和社会工作的独特合作伙伴 由计算机科学在以患者为中心的研究框架内工作，该框架 卫生保健用户、卫生保健提供者和卫生系统决策者。我们的经验 在运行一套在健康和减少危害方面可用的最佳便携式光谱仪 设置通知本建议构建和实施一个集成平台， 继续技术进步，以提高便携性、功能、速度和准确性，但 而且成本更低，并且用户界面不需要使用训练有素的员工 技术人员。我们的项目提出了一个药物检查平台，有可能克服 促进公共卫生最充分融合的仪器和人员成本的障碍 过量用药策略中的药物检查。

Measures to ensure a safer drug supply are an essential component of reducing overdose deaths. Fentanyl test strips are fast, sensitive, and cheap, but cannot provide any information on potency, purity, or the existence of other harmful adulterants. There is an urgent need for technologies that can identify all components present and provide information on the concentration of active ingredients. British Columbia is the epicenter of Canadas overdose crisis and Vancouver Island experiences overdose deaths rates more than twice the national average. Researchers and student trainees at the University of Victoria are leaders in employing portable spectroscopy to drug checking as a public health response to overdose. In collaboration with Island Health Authority, we propose to expand on our current drug checking services to champion one technology which has the potential to meet all needs: highly sensitive to detect low concentrations, low cost to enable broad distribution, and ease of use to either eliminate, or significantly reduce the need for scientists to operate instruments and interpret results. We are a unique collaboration of Chemistry and Social Work supported by Computer Sciences working within a Patient Oriented Research framework that engages health care users, health care providers and health system decision makers. Our experience in operating a suite of the best portable spectrometers available in health and harm reduction settings informs this proposal to construct and implement an integrated platform that continues technological advances to improve portability, capability, speed and accuracy but also at a lower-cost and with a user interface that does not require employing highly trained technicians. Our project proposes a drug checking platform that has the potential to overcome the obstacles of instrument and staffing costs to facilitate public health to most fully integrate drug checking within the overdose strategies.