Grant CM Author

Research Article Open Access

Investigation into the Analysis of Fentanyl in Postmortem Blood using Biocompatible Solid-Phase Microextraction

Author(s):

Grant CM, Brettell TA, Land SD and Staretz ME

Over recent years, the abuse of fentanyl and other opioids has become a slow motion mass disaster in the United States resulting in an increased number of drug-related deaths. Various postmortem biological samples are collected by forensic pathologists during autopsy and then sent to a toxicology laboratory to be analyzed for the presence of various compounds such as fentanyl. This process can be time consuming and results in a backlog, potentially hindering an investigation. A possible solution is Biocompatible Solid-Phase MicroExtraction (BioSPME) fibers. These fibers can be directly inserted into a biological matrix and absorb drug compounds without the interference of macromolecules that may be present allowing for a faster analysis time. An initial method has been developed to anal... view more»

DOI: DOI: 10.37532/jftp.2019.8(1).163

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