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Abstract
The most commonly used drug testing methods are based on the analysis of hair and urine using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry or immunoassay screening. These methods are time-consuming and partly expensive. One alternative method could be the application of an “electronic nose” (eNose). We have developed an eNose to detect directly on the human skin surface metabolic changes in the human body odor caused by cannabis consumption. Twenty cannabis-smoking and 20 tobacco-smoking volunteers were enrolled in this study. For the sensor signal data processing, two different methods were applied: Principle component analysis (PCA) with discriminant analysis, and the method of pattern recognition with subsequent support vector machines (SVM) processing. The PCA analysis achieved a correct classification of 70%, whereas the SVM obtained an accuracy of 92.5% (sensitivity 95%, specificity 90%) between cannabis-consuming volunteers and tobacco-smoking subjects. This study shows evidence that a low-cost, portable and fast-working eNose system could be useful for health protection, security agencies and for forensic investigations. The ability to analyze human body odor with an eNose opens up a wide field for diagnosing other drugs and also various diseases.
Highlights
The consumption of substances derived from cannabis such as hashish and marijuana, in the form of joints, is widespread
Principle component analysis (PCA) was performed on the representative sensor curves
By applying support vector machines (SVM) on features extracted from the sensor curves, we achieved a remarkable accuracy of 92% when discriminating between cannabis and tobacco smokers
Summary
The consumption of substances derived from cannabis such as hashish and marijuana, in the form of joints, is widespread. Called Indian hemp, is a form of the common hemp, a grassy plant with sticky leaves. It contains about 60 chemical compounds with psychoactive effects—the cannabinoids. The relatively high incidence of cannabinoid detection in urine reflects the high prevalence of cannabis use, especially among young adults [1]. Several instrumental analyses techniques for drug testing using different specimens have been reported recently. Urine testing is the most highly developed and most commonly used monitoring technique in substance abuse treatment programs [2]. There has been a growing interest in using blood, hair, sweat or saliva analyses [3,4]
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