Latent fingerprints provide a potential route to the secure, high throughput and non-invasive detection of drugs of abuse. In this study we show for the first time that the excreted metabolites of drugs of abuse can be detected in fingerprints using ambient mass spectrometry. Fingerprints and oral fluid were taken from patients attending a drug and alcohol treatment service. Gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was used to test the oral fluid of patients for the presence of cocaine and benzoylecgonine. The corresponding fingerprints were analysed using Desorption Electrospray Ionization (DESI) which operates under ambient conditions and Ion Mobility Tandem Mass Spectrometry Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization (MALDI-IMS-MS/MS) and Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS). The detection of cocaine, benzoylecgonine (BZE) and methylecgonine (EME) in latent fingerprints using both DESI and MALDI showed good correlation with oral fluid testing. The sensitivity of SIMS was found to be insufficient for this application. These results provide exciting opportunities for the use of fingerprints as a new sampling medium for secure, non-invasive drug detection. The mass spectrometry techniques used here offer a high level of selectivity and consume only a small area of a single fingerprint, allowing repeat and high throughput analyses of a single sample.
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science
4
3%
Other
19
12%
Unknown
42
26%
Attention Score in Context
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 315. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 26 April 2025.
All research outputs
#136,888
of 34,394,092 outputs
Outputs from Analyst
#2
of 8,753 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#1,176
of 409,932 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Analyst
#1
of 479 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 34,394,092 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 99th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 8,753 research outputs from this source. They receive a mean Attention Score of 4.3. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 409,932 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 479 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its contemporaries.
