A research institute specializing in Materials Science

Press release

R&D | Optical sensor material for drug detection in sweat

Page info

Date21-02-01 14:56 Hit656

Contents

Optical sensor material for drug detection in sweat

              KIMS developed an optical sensor material for drug detection in sweat



Researchers at KIMS have successfully developed a wearable sensor that can detect illegal drugs in sweat by using

nanomaterials technology that amplifies the optical signal of narcotics to flexible, body-worn material. Led by Dr. Ho Sang

Jung, the research unit is part of the Korea Institute of Materials Science, a government-funded research institute under the

Ministry of Science and ICT.


The technology enables fast and highly sensitive drug detection: the sweat patch is attached to the skin for a certain period of

time and then irradiated with light for testing. It only takes one minute without requiring an additional process. The researchers

focused on sweat which is not invasive and relatively free from human rights issues. However, an only a small amount of

substances is discharged in sweat, even though sweat contains various drugs taken so a highly sensitive sensor technology

had to be developed for better detection.


The team’s highly sensitive sensing utilized the surface-enhanced Raman scattering technology capable of enhancing the

Raman signal of chemical substances by 1010 times and more. As the Raman scattering signal includes the specific signal of

molecules, intuitive substance identification is possible no matter what drug is discharged.


Dr. Ho Sang Jung, the leader of a research unit, said, “As seen in recent drug-related crimes, Korea is no longer a drug-free

country. The developed technology would overcome the technological limitations on identifying drug and prohibited substance

use and enable drug detection without invasive and ethical problems.”