Smoke detectors

Researchers at Keele University are working with Staffordshire Police on a project that aims to develop a instant, portable drug testing system.

The SIFT-MS analysis technology was developed by Prof David Smith from the university’s Institute of Science and Technology for Medicine in the 1970s to study how molecules form between stars. Smith and his team have formed a spin-out company, Trans Spectra, to market the devices.

Existing breath analysis tools mean that the sample must be collected in a bag and then processed which can take several minutes. ‘The point of SIFT-MS is that you simply blow into the instrument and the analysis is instant,’ said Smith.

The system consists of a tube through which helium gas is pumped. Charged ions in an electrical microwave discharge are injected into the flowing gas, and flow through the tube until they reach the mass spectrometer at the end. This analyses what ions are present based on their weight. As a breath sample is introduced, the ions react with the trace chemicals present in the breath and produce characteristic ions which the mass spectrometer can measure.