Moving Away from Immunoassays: Adapting LC-MS for Routine Urine Toxicology Screens

Duration: 1 hour

Immunoassays dominate the drug screen assay market as the most widely used method for routine urine toxicology screens. However, this method of analysis lacks specificity and suffers from cross-reactivity with irrelevant, similarly structured compounds. Furthermore, not all immunoassays are sensitive to drug metabolites, leading to false negatives. These limitations lead to the need for confirmation testing by LC-MS/MS, which has longer turnaround times that delay clinical decision making.

The Toxtyper^® is an automated LC-MSn coupled with a method-specific library search engine and compound identification algorithm. Its push-button interface is designed for implementation in the clinic without the need for toxicology trained staff.

This webinar will be focused on the Toxtyper^® drugs-of-abuse (DOA) LC-MSn method and how it compares with the currently used immunoassays (CEDIA, EMIT and DRI) for urine toxicology routine panels in terms of sensitivity, number of compounds identified, speed, and sample preparation. The comparative study conducted by Dr. Adina Badea, PhD, DABCC, demonstrated that the Toxtyper provides consistent results with commonly used immunoassay screens, within a competitive timeframe. Furthermore, the added information and specificity provided by the LC-MSn system can have a significant impact in optimization of patient care.

• Comparison between the Toxtyper^® LC-MSn and conventional immunoassays
• Advantages of using the Toxtyper^® system to optimize patient care
• Using the Toxtyper^® to elucidate unusual exposures in the emergency medicine setting
  

• Toxicologists
• Medical Examiners
• Clinical and Forensic Lab Supervisors