A Next Generation, High-Precision, Field Drug Detection System

The synthetic opioids fentanyl and carfentanil pose an imminent national security threat, given the ease with which they can be obtained, their low lethal doses, and their potential for weaponized use. The purpose of this agreement is to adapt SensoDx’s high-performance miniaturized diagnostics platform based on a programmable bio-nano-chip, with embedded artificial intelligence, to enable U.S. Armed Forces to identify and quantify fentanyl and carfentanil in the field using a simple and rapid test. This capability will support Armed Forces’ ability to meet critical situations involving these drugs with appropriate countermeasures. Current portable drug detection devices have shortcomings, such as being too expensive, bulky and heavy, being non-ruggedized, requiring a high level of training, only detecting a single drug and being prone to false-positives. In this Sequential Phase II proposal, SensoDx plans to: 1) develop a high precision low cost miniaturized optics module to drive down both size and cost of instrumentation, 2) complete carfentanil and fentanyl assay development and validation, and 3) demonstrate assay performance on an updated instrument. The proposed technology meets desired features in that the platform is easy-to-use, portable, lightweight and rugged, while providing rapid (5 minutes or less) and highly accurate quantitative data.