Evaluation of the Potential Application of a Portable and Wireless Spectrometer in the Forensic and Medical Field

The application of a wireless portable spectrometer for the quantitative detection of Gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB), a commonly abused drug, was explored. Unlike existing portable tests that only detect the presence of GHB, the developed method provides quantitative information. The previously published colorimetric test, involving the formation of the ferric complex of GHB, was modified for spectrometric detection. The absorbance of the purple ferric complex exhibits a linear relationship with the concentration of GHB, showing an average coefficient of determination (r2) value of 0.7676. The reproducibility of the developed method was evaluated through an inter-day study of the calibration curve. Results indicate that the method for spectrometric detection of GHB has good precision (RSD = 5.94%).The performance of the wireless portable spectrometer for detecting GHB using the developed method was compared with that of a benchtop spectrometer. Results show that the r2 value for the wireless portable spectrometer and the benchtop spectrometer is 0.8178 and 0.7532, respectively. This suggests that the performance of the portable spectrometer is comparable to that of the benchtop spectrometer. It is demonstrated that the wireless portable spectrometer can perform quantitative analysis for GHB and has potential for onsite application at crime scenes and first response sites.