Originally published by Mirror UK.

A new drug test that can detect if people are intoxicated from just a fingerprint is being trialled at a clinic in North Wales.

The new test, developed by Intelligent Fingerprinting – a spin-out company from the University of East Anglia – is able to detect traces of drugs in users’ fingerprint sweat.

Fingerprint sample collection takes only a few seconds and is more dignified and hygienic than traditional drug testing procedures involving saliva or urine.

It is also more convenient and cost-effective, as there is no need for specialist collection or biohazardous waste disposal facilities.

The new fingerprint drug test is currently being trialled by rehabilitation and recovery charity CAIS at its Parkland Place clinic in North Wales.

“With sample collection in seconds and results in 10 minutes, we’ve found that the Intelligent Fingerprinting drug test approach works particularly well as part of drug rehabilitation programmes,” said Intelligent Fingerprinting’s Dr Paul Yates.

The test features a small, drug screening cartridge onto which ten fingerprint sweat samples are collected, in a process which takes less than a minute.

A portable analysis unit then reads the cartridge and provides a positive or negative result on-screen for all drugs in the test in ten minutes.

The test screens for the opioid substitution drugs methadone and buprenorphine, as well as benzodiazepines (sleeping pills and tranquillisers) and opiates (such as codeine, heroin and morphine).

“Staff at CAIS find the Intelligent Fingerprinting drug testing method much easier to use than previous testing methods,” added Dr Yates.

“Because testing can be carried out on-site with results available quickly, fingerprint drug tests can support a much more transparent approach to treatment as they help measure a client’s progress towards recovery.”

CAIS plans to extend the technology to its secure detoxification service in Wrexham and residential drug detoxification and rehabilitation clinic near Chorley in Lancashire in the coming months.

“While drug testing is an important part of our dedicated detox services, we’re always keen at CAIS to ensure a safe and empathetic environment,” said CAIS Chief Executive, Clive Wolfendale.

“The Intelligent Fingerprinting test method ensures that we can screen our guests in a dignified and hygienic way.”

Originally published by Transport UK Bus.

Abellio London Bus, one of London’s most innovative public transport companies, has become the first bus operator to adopt new fingerprint based drug testing technology to support the health and safety of its employees and customers. Abellio operates day and night bus services across London, and will use the portable Intelligent Fingerprinting drug screening system to support random test. Alcohol testing will also take place at the same time.“At Abellio we’re focused on providing better quality, safer and more convenient transport services for our clients and customers, and we see workplace drug & alcohol testing as an important part of our commitment to ensure a safe service. We found that our existing urine-based drug test was both inconvenient and slow, preventing us from achieving the test coverage we required,” commented Lorna Murphy, Operations Director at Abellio.

“The Intelligent Fingerprinting system directly addresses these issues for Abellio, making the drug screening process much easier, less intrusive for our staff, and also allowing us to test a lot more of our employees, significantly improving our risk management processes. Following union consultation and approval of the Intelligent Fingerprinting system, we’ve now adopted it enhance our drug & alcohol testing approach and have incorporated the process into our drug & alcohol policy.”

Fingerprint-based drug test accelerates identification of drug mules

Fingerprint Drug Testing Featured on BBC Inside Science

Intelligent Fingerprinting’s drug testing technology was recently featured on BBC Radio 4’s Inside Science. Listeners were introduced to the innovative science behind fingerprint-based drug screening. The segment explained how our patented method identifies drug use through a fingerprint sample by detecting metabolites in sweat.

Listen to The Full Interview

Developed from research at the University of East Anglia, our solution detects four drug types:

• Cannabis (THC)
• Cocaine
• Opiates
• Methamphetamine

Even though fingerprint residue is microscopic, our system can detect metabolites at picogram levels. This is equivalent to a trillionth of a gram. As a result, it offers high-sensitivity drug detection without invasive methods.

Accuracy, Differentiation, and Real-World Benefits

In the BBC interview, host Dr. Adam Rutherford probed into the system’s capabilities. Notably, he highlighted it’s ability to distinguish between accidental contact (like picking up traces of cocaine from contaminated notes) versus actual drug ingestion. That’s thanks to the detection of benzoylecgonine (BZE)—a major cocaine metabolite—which confirms that the body has metabolized the drug.

Unlike many traditional drug screening methods that merely indicate presence, our test assesses whether concentrations exceed strict cut-off thresholds, aligning with industry standards. Dr. Rutherford dubbed it “a breathalyzer for drugs”—apt, given our drug screening system’s convenience and reliability across multiple classes of illegal substances.

Empowering Coroners and Workplaces with Actionable Results

One exciting application is in forensic toxicology. The discussion highlighted how our solution is already supporting UK coroners, providing timely insights into recent drug use. In collaboration with the Sheffield Coroner’s Office, our system’s results compared favorably with traditional blood toxicology tests, demonstrating high accuracy and operational value.

In the workplace, our drug screening system offers a highly relevant alternative for employee substance abuse testing, workplace drug policy enforcement, and occupational health compliance. It’s fast, hygienic, and doesn’t require specialized collection facilities. This makes it ideal for organizations aiming to minimize operational disruption.

You can listen to David Russell’s full discussion with BBC Inside Science here, with the interview starting at 21.45.

Orginally published by Labiotech

The British company Intelligent Fingerprinting has shown that its non-invasive fingerprint drug test can yield results comparable to blood tests in just 10 minutes.

The technology, developed at the University of East Anglia, can detect extremely low amounts of amphetamines, cannabis, cocaine and opiate drugs from the sweat of a single fingerprint. The sample is taken in just 5 seconds and can be analyzed in 10 minutes using a portable device.

The test uses fluorescently tagged antibodies specific to each drug class. When a drug is present in the sample, they bind to it and stop fluorescing, and the signal is captured by the reader.

In a study published in the Journal of Analytical Toxicology, researchers at Intelligent Fingerprinting studied the use of the fingerprint test in coronary services to provide an early assessment of the possible cause of death. In these situations, standard drug testing currently uses urine or blood samples and require taking the sample to a specialized laboratory to analyze the sample using chromatography and mass spectrometry techniques.

“We compared our work to the detection of the drugs in blood or urine samples using the ‘gold standard’ … We obtained excellent correlation against blood with 96%, 92%, 88% and 97% accuracy for cannabis, cocaine, opiates and amphetamines, respectively,” David Russell, CSO of Intelligent Fingerprinting and Professor at the University of East Anglia, told me.

In addition to providing a rapid result on site, the test doesn’t create biohazard, unlike urine and blood samples, which require specialized facilities for waste disposal.

“Our test is a screen for 4 particular drugs that are commonly abused. It would not replace a full forensic toxicological analysis but would complement such a study to provide coroners with information,” said Russell.

According to Russell, the equipment costs about £4000 and each sample cartridge is about £15. In comparison, a full toxicological analysis at a lab costs between £400-600.

“At the present time the system is already used by some U.K. coroners, in drug rehabilitation services, workplace testing and within high schools. It is also being trialled in airport screening and within offender management in prisons and probation services,” added Russell. “We are developing cartridges to detect other drugs, both drugs of abuse and prescription medication.”

Energy Live reports on the launch of Intelligent Fingerprinting’s portable fingerprint drug testing system and explains how it could enable simpler drug testing for utility companies as well as to support drug screening within the oil and gas industries.

Read the Energy Live article

Read the article on the Construction News website.

New technology for the construction industry is not limited to innovations aimed at driving down costs and improving efficiency in the build process. In the case of Intelligent Fingerprinting, technology is being used to improve health and safety practices and compliance.

The brainchild of founder and chief scientific officer David Russell, Intelligent Fingerprinting conducts drug screening tests through a fingerprint. “When you look at a fingerprint, it’s actually made up of sweat and fatty materials,” says Intelligent Fingerprint business development director Paul Yates.

“That is just the same as any other bodily fluid, such as blood, urine or saliva, in as much as they will contain information that will tell you something about the person. You can look for something called metabolites, which are the by-products of the body’s metabolism from things that you have ingested or eaten.”

Prof Russell’s idea was to isolate the metabolites found in the sweat of a fingerprint and analyse them for traces of drugs.

How it works

The first step in the process is getting the fingerprint of the person who is to receive a drug test. This is done by having them press their finger on a collection cartridge, which is then inserted into the reader unit for testing and analysis.

Measuring about 20 x 15 x 10 cm, the reader unit releases chemicals that target the metabolites for four drugs of abuse. “The first four we’ve looked at are amphetamines, cannabis, cocaine and opiates, which includes things like heroin,” Dr Yates explains.

The results are reported as either positive or negative.

“Intelligent Fingerprinting is as simple of walking up to somebody and saying, ‘Your name has come out of a hat for a random drugs test, place your finger on this cartridge’, and that’s it”

Paul Yates, Intelligent Fingerprinting

With a cost of around £10 per test attached to the solution, which will go up or down depending on the number of tests being done, Dr Yates admits it’s not the cheapest drug-testing option. “It’s probably comparable to oral fluid testing, but urine testing is usually quite a lot cheaper,” he says. “That’s due to a combination of it being around the longest, and it’s become a very commodity-driven industry in as much as you can buy test cups very cheaply and sometimes their accuracy is not as good.”

Dr Yates says the benefits emerge when you consider the invasive and time-consuming process of collecting urine samples, which requires gender-specific sample collectors and all the taps in the bathrooms having to be sealed, while some companies will require it to be an observed sample.

“[Intelligent Fingerprinting is] as simple of walking up to somebody and saying, ‘Your name has come out of a hat for a random drugs test, place your finger on this cartridge’, and that’s it. You’ve collected the sample,” Dr Yates says.

The drugs Intelligent Fingerprinting can test for are currently limited to the aforementioned four, and it cannot detect alcohol. However, the company is working towards catering to the specific needs of customers. “In rail, for example, they have a defined panel of drugs they screen for, so we’ll be adding those,” Dr Yates says.

The product was launched in the final quarter of 2017 and is being used by contractors in the construction industry, but Dr Yates is unable to disclose their identity.

If successful, the solution could help the industry take another step towards ensuring its workers are fit to be on site and handling heavy machinery.

Originally published by the Global Construction Review.

Device drug-tests construction workers with mere tap of finger

Billed as an improvement on collecting urine, a new system that uses a simple touch to test construction workers for drug use has hit the market.

It’s the first kit in the world to be able to detect cocaine, opiates, cannabis and amphetamines in the sweat of a digit, says Cambridge, UK-based firm Intelligent Fingerprinting.

The test takes just five seconds and respects the dignity of those being tested better than saliva or urine tests, the company said.

It works by detecting the metabolites that the body produces when it breaks down different kinds of drug, and which are excreted in sweat.

Developed by David Russell, a chemistry professor from the University of East Anglia, the system combines a portable reader, a one-touch drug screening cartridge and a tamper-detecting collection kit for laboratory analysis.

Paul Yates, the company’s business development director, said: “construction firms can enjoy all the benefits of fingerprint-based drug testing and be confident about the end-to-end reliability of their process”.

Should an employee’s test prove positive, two further samples are gathered and tested at a laboratory nominated by Intelligent Fingerprinting.

The company, which formed in 2007, says informed written consent should be obtained from the donor prior to collection, along with a statement of the donor’s prescription medication.

The use of drugs by construction workers is thought to be fairly widespread. In Australia, random testing is now mandatory on projects where the public sector contributes more than A$10m of the costs. One survey in Queensland found that one in five site operatives tested positive for cannabis or cocaine.

In the UK in 2016, a survey of 1,200 construction workers found that 59% of them had concerns about the misuse of drugs and alcohol in the industry, with 35% reporting seeing colleagues under the influence, and about a quarter reporting issues with tiredness and inattention caused by drugs and alcohol, or their after-effects.