Method and apparatus for detecting illicit substances
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of detecting illicit substances, comprising:
- obtaining a sample of exhaled breath; and
analyzing said sample of breath with sensor technology to determine the presence of said illicit substance.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention includes a method and apparatus for detecting use of illicit substances by analyzing a sample of breath using electronic sensor technology, including surface acoustic-wave gas sensor technology. The method determines the presence and concentration of the substance (or a class of substances). Diagnostic software is used to identify substances where a stored library of signatures is compared to the signature obtained from the system. Signal processing and neural networks are preferably utilized in the analysis.
223 Citations
45 Claims
-
1. A method of detecting illicit substances, comprising:
-
obtaining a sample of exhaled breath; and
analyzing said sample of breath with sensor technology to determine the presence of said illicit substance. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
-
-
19. A method of determining the presence of an illicit substance in a subject, comprising:
-
obtaining a sample of exhaled breath from said subject who has possibly ingested an illicit substance;
subsequently analyzing said breath sample using gas sensor technology;
comparing the results of the analysis against a library of known illicit substances and interferents; and
identifying and confirming the presence or absence of an illicit substance in said subject.
-
-
20. A method of determining subject compliance, comprising:
-
obtaining a sample of exhaled breath from said subject;
subsequently analyzing said breath sample;
comparing the results of the analysis against a library of known illicit substances and interferents;
confirming the presence or absence of any illicit substance. - View Dependent Claims (21, 45)
-
-
22. An apparatus for rapidly determining subject compliance with a treatment regimen, comprising:
-
(a) means for receiving exhaled breath from a subject;
(b) means for determining the presence of illicit substances in said breath; and
(c) means for reporting the results. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
-
-
40. A device for detecting a target substance of an illicit nature in expired breath comprising:
-
a surface-acoustic wave sensor capable of detecting the presence of said target substance in expired breath, wherein said sensor responds to the target substance by a shift in the resonant frequency;
an oscillator circuit having said sensor as an active feedback element; and
a frequency counter in communication with said oscillator circuit to measure oscillation frequency which corresponds to resonant frequency of the sensor;
a processor for comparing the oscillation frequency with a previously measured oscillation frequency of the target substance and determining presence and concentration of the target substance therefrom.
-
-
41. A device for detecting a target substance of an illicit nature in expired breath comprising:
-
a sensor having an array of polymers capable of detecting the presence of said target substance in expired breath, wherein said sensor responds to the target substance by changing the resistance in each polymer resulting in a pattern change in the sensor array;
a processor for receiving the change in resistance, comparing the change in resistance with a previously measured change in resistance, and identifying the presence of the target substance from the pattern change and the concentration of the substance from the amplitude. - View Dependent Claims (42)
-
-
43. A method of determining the rate of washout of a target substance of an illicit nature in expired breath comprising:
-
obtaining a sample of expired breath at a first interval;
analyzing said sample with sensor technology to determine the concentration of said substance;
obtaining at least one additional sample of expired breath at a later interval;
analyzing said additional sample with sensor technology to determine the concentration of said substance; and
comparing the concentration of the first sample with the concentration of additional samples to determine rate of washout of said target substance. - View Dependent Claims (44)
-
Specification