Detection of drugs of abuse in saliva by surface-enhanced raman spectroscopy (SERS)

Abstract

Eighty drugs of abuse and metabolites were successfully measured by surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) using gold-and silverdoped sol-gels immobilized in glass capillaries. A method was developed that provided consistent detection of 50 ppb cocaine in saliva in a focused study. This general method was successfully applied to the detection of a number of additional drugs in saliva, such as amphetamine, diazepam, and methadone. © 2011 Society for Applied Spectroscopy.