STTR Phase I: A Roadside Marijuana Breathalyzer to Rapidly Screen for Cannabinoid Sobriety

这个小型企业技术转让(STTR)第一阶段项目的更广泛影响将是一种负担得起的便携式呼吸分析设备，用于检测大麻中毒。急救人员、执法人员、医疗专业人员、大麻使用者和普通公众将受益于一种能够快速准确地筛查大麻损害的分析工具。据估计，2016年有3.7万人死于车祸；54%的受害者接受了毒品和酒精检测，38%的受害者大麻检测呈阳性。拟议的设备将能够客观地确定大麻损害，改善道路安全。拟议的项目基于一系列仿生聚合物涂层之间的工程可检测、可重现的相互作用，这些涂层经过培训，用于检测作为大麻中毒标志的气相分子成分。从自然界大麻素受体的原理和化学特征中获得灵感，将对聚合物进行分子工程，以增强对大麻素的分子识别。这些材料将经过合理设计，以强烈结合大麻素，并产生可用微型机电系统(MEMS)传感器测量的变化，同时提供可用于实时监测气相大麻素的功能手柄。仿生聚合物将被溶液沉积到MEMS传感器上，并在受控的环境舱中评估对大麻素板的响应。挥发的气相大麻素浓度将被筛选，对照MEMS电阻和电容测量进行映射，并进行分析，以开发独有的化学计量模式识别算法，唯一地识别每个分子目标。同时使用化学电容型和化学阻型MEMS传感器与多种分子识别策略相结合，将被用来增强传感器的分子识别能力，增加传感器阵列中的信号多样性。这一方法将通过不同的仿生MEMS传感器阵列中的化学计量“指纹”来区分呼气中的气相大麻素。这一奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact of this Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project will be an affordable, portable breath analysis device to detect marijuana intoxication. First responders, law enforcement, medical professionals, cannabis users, and the general public will benefit from an analytical tool that allows fast and accurate screenings of cannabis impairment. An estimated 37,000 people died in vehicle crashes in 2016; 54% of the victims were tested for drugs and alcohol, and 38% of those tested positive for marijuana. The proposed device will enable objective determination of cannabis impairment, improving road safety.The proposed project is based on engineering detectable, reproducible interactions between an array of biomimetic polymer coatings trained to detect gas-phase molecular components that are markers of cannabis intoxication. Drawing inspiration from the principles and chemical features of nature’s cannabinoid receptors, polymers will be molecularly engineered for enhanced molecular recognition of cannabinoids. These materials will be rationally designed to strongly bind cannabinoids and create changes measurable with Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems (MEMS) sensors, while simultaneously affording a functional handle that can be utilized to monitor gas-phase cannabinoids in real-time. The biomimetic polymers will be solution-deposited onto MEMS sensors and evaluated in a controlled environmental chamber for responsiveness to a panel of cannabinoids. Volatilized gas-phase cannabinoid concentrations will be screened, mapped against MEMS resistance and capacitance measurements, and analyzed to develop proprietary chemometric pattern recognition algorithms that uniquely identify each molecular target. The simultaneous use of chemicapacitive and chemiresistive MEMS sensors coupled with multiple molecular recognition strategies will be exploited to enhance the sensor’s molecular discriminating power, adding signal diversity across the sensor array. This approach will distinguish gas-phase cannabinoids in breath via chemometric “fingerprints” across a diversified biomimetic MEMS sensor array.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.