RBAN - Roadside Breath Analysis of Narcotics

毒品驾驶是一个日益严重的全球性问题，特别是在执法不力或娱乐性使用合法化的国家（美国30%，欧盟32%）。在英国，2019年成功起诉了11614起毒品驾驶案件，比前一年增加了20%。最常见的麻醉剂是四氢大麻酚（THC），大麻的精神活性成分。路边使用无处不在的酒精“酒精浓度仪”在改变人们对酒后驾驶的态度和行为方面发挥了重要作用。开发一种产品，可以对四氢大麻酚和一系列其他毒品起到同样的作用，用于路边、工业、保险、监狱和边境部队，这是一种需要和重大的商业机会。目前的解决方案依赖于从嫌疑人口中提取大量唾液样本，然后在便携式机器上进行光谱分析，或者使用变色条进行横向流动分析。唾液采集是侵入性的，测试通常需要5到20分钟才能完成，在指示条的情况下，结果很难解释。曼彻斯特大学（UoM）利用“气味结合蛋白”（OBPs）开发出了一种高度选择性和敏感的传感器，类似于动物嗅觉感官通道中的气味结合蛋白。在这些传感器中，在极少量的“目标”分子的结合上可以检测到电子特性的显著变化。在并行器件上沉积一系列obp可以在嘈杂的环境中产生独特的“指纹”。Epinal Ltd是一家新成立的公司，在过去的18个月里一直在与UoM合作，展示从学术实验室到商业设备的路线。该项目旨在以目前的工作为基础，通过展示一种麻醉呼吸检测系统来降低进入市场的风险，该系统可以在短时间内（<2分钟）给出结果，并具有英国现实的供应链和制造计划。

Drug-driving is a growing global problem, particularly in countries where enforcement is weak, or recreational use is legalised (30% of US, 32% of EU). In the UK there were 11,614 successful prosecutions for drug-driving in 2019, a 20% increase on the previous year. The most common narcotic is Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive component of cannabis. Roadside use of the ubiquitous alcohol 'breathalyser' has played a significant part in changing attitudes and behaviours around drink driving.There is a need and a significant business opportunity to develop a product that can do the same for THC and a range of other narcotics for roadside, and industrial, insurance, prison and border force use. Current solutions rely on taking a significant sample of saliva from the suspect's mouth and carrying out spectroscopic analysis in a portable machine, or lateral flow analysis with colour changing strips. Collection of saliva is invasive, and testing typically takes between 5 and 20 minutes to complete, with results hard to interpret in the case of indicator strips. The University of Manchester (UoM) has developed a highly selective and sensitive sensor using 'odorant binding proteins' (OBPs) similar to those found in animal smell sensory channels. In these sensors a significant change in the electronic characteristics is detectable on the binding of very small amounts of the 'target' molecule. Deposition of a range of OBPs on parallel devices can produce a unique 'fingerprint' for discrimination in a noisy environment. Epinal Ltd is a recent startup and has been working with UoM in the past 18 months to demonstrate a route from the academic lab to a commercial device. This project aims to build on the current work and de-risk the route to market by demonstrating a narcotic breath detection system which can give results in a short (<2mins) time, with a realistic supply chain and manufacturing plan in the UK.