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UBC develops marijuana breathalyzer (2016-04-25)
A new device will determine if you’re too stoned to
be behind the wheel. UBC Okanagan engineering
professor Mina Hoorfar has developed a handheld
device, known as a microfluidic breath analyzer that
can detect the presence of tetrahydrocannabinol
(THC) - the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis - in
a person’s breath.
“It’s very easy to test for THC as it is a big
molecule that stays in your breath for a long time,”
says Hoorfar, recently named UBC Okanagan’s
researcher of the year. “There is a period of 12
hours after you have consumed THC when it can still
be detected in your breath.”
THC also stays in the blood and in saliva. However,
roadside testing involving blood analysis or spit
tests is not an easy process, and results are not
immediate. With Hoorfar’s device—about the size of
two fingers together—a law enforcement officer can
determine within seconds whether a person is
impaired.
The device costs about $15 to manufacture and is
Bluetooth-enabled so data can be collected using a
cellphone.
“This is a tool not just for the police, but perhaps
more for self-testing and self-monitoring,” says
Hoorfar, noting it can also be used as a personal
breathalyzer after alcohol consumption. “People can
consciously make the choice to test themselves after
they have consumed THC or alcohol.”
The microfluidic breath analyzer, made with a 3D
printer at the UBC’s campus in Kelowna, British
Columbia, uses a single gas sensor along with a
micrometer deep channel (not even as thick as a
strand of hair). The highly-sensitive semiconductor
gas sensor is inside the microchannel—and diffused
exhaled breath is recorded and analyzed as it flows
through this channel. The “smellprint” of the
exhaled breath is then provided by the device
showing how much marijuana has been consumed.
Hoorfar says with the decriminalization of cannabis
on the federal government’s radar, and several
American states legalizing the substance, it’s only
a matter of time before driving while stoned becomes
an enforcement matter.
Hoorfar is the head of the Advanced Thermo-Fluidic
Laboratory (AFTL) where she and PhD student Mohammad
Paknahad developed the microfluidic breath analyzer.
The lab is an interdisciplinary research facility
where professors, post-grad students, and
researchers work with biochips and digital
microfluidics.
Using technology in the lab, Hoorfar and Paknahad
realized their device can also register odours other
than THC. It is currently being tested for ketones,
meaning diabetics may eventually be able to take a
breath test instead of a finger prick blood test to
monitor their glucose levels. The device is also
being tested above gas lines, via a drone, to
determine its capability of detecting a gas leak.
For more information
The University of British Columbia - UBC Link...