TY - JOUR
T1 - Real-time drug detection using a diathermic knife combined to rapid evaporative ionisation mass spectrometry
AU - Van Hese, Laura
AU - Vaysse, Pierre-Maxence
AU - Siegel, Tiffany Porta
AU - Heeren, Ron
AU - Rex, Steffen
AU - Cuypers, Eva
N1 - Copyright © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
PY - 2021/1/1
Y1 - 2021/1/1
N2 - Fast, accurate and sensitive detection of drugs in human tissue is of crucial importance in an investigation of a suspicious death. Here, we aimed to screen cocaine, diazepam, methadone and morphine in post-mortem muscle samples without sample preparation and in quasi-real time using rapid evaporative ionisation mass spectrometry (REIMS). REIMS enables the online MS analysis of vapours generated from tissue dissection by a diathermic knife. Human muscle samples were soaked in solutions of 4 drugs at different concentrations and multiple incubation times to check the feasibility of REIMS for this innovative application. Muscle samples soaked in blank saline were used as a control. The classification model was able to distinguish between 30 μg g-1 cocaine (m/z 304.2), 200 μg g-1 morphine (m/z 286.2), 10 μg g-1 methadone (m/z 310.2) and 10 μg g-1 muscle of diazepam (m/z 285.1). REIMS tandem MS confirmed that the mass peaks that contributed to the class separation, originated from the drugs of interest. As a proof-of-concept, a forensic case muscle sample from a methadone overdose was investigated using REIMS. Here, using our classification model, the recognition software was able to detect methadone, demonstrating that the REIMS method opens new possibilities in forensic toxicology and during autopsy, leading to faster crime solving and decreased costs.
AB - Fast, accurate and sensitive detection of drugs in human tissue is of crucial importance in an investigation of a suspicious death. Here, we aimed to screen cocaine, diazepam, methadone and morphine in post-mortem muscle samples without sample preparation and in quasi-real time using rapid evaporative ionisation mass spectrometry (REIMS). REIMS enables the online MS analysis of vapours generated from tissue dissection by a diathermic knife. Human muscle samples were soaked in solutions of 4 drugs at different concentrations and multiple incubation times to check the feasibility of REIMS for this innovative application. Muscle samples soaked in blank saline were used as a control. The classification model was able to distinguish between 30 μg g-1 cocaine (m/z 304.2), 200 μg g-1 morphine (m/z 286.2), 10 μg g-1 methadone (m/z 310.2) and 10 μg g-1 muscle of diazepam (m/z 285.1). REIMS tandem MS confirmed that the mass peaks that contributed to the class separation, originated from the drugs of interest. As a proof-of-concept, a forensic case muscle sample from a methadone overdose was investigated using REIMS. Here, using our classification model, the recognition software was able to detect methadone, demonstrating that the REIMS method opens new possibilities in forensic toxicology and during autopsy, leading to faster crime solving and decreased costs.
KW - Forensic Toxicology
KW - Humans
KW - Mass Spectrometry
KW - Pharmaceutical Preparations
KW - Specimen Handling
KW - Substance Abuse Detection
U2 - 10.1016/j.talanta.2020.121391
DO - 10.1016/j.talanta.2020.121391
M3 - Article
C2 - 33076053
SN - 0039-9140
VL - 221
JO - Talanta
JF - Talanta
M1 - 121391
ER -