The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) awarded Vox Biomedical LLC a $587,936 Project Grant under the Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs (CFDA 93.279) on August 15, 2024. The purpose of this grant is to develop a method for capturing and concentrating exhaled breath aerosols containing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) through electrostatic charging and collection onto sub-millimeter diameter areas. This will enable highly sensitive detection of THC using infrared tunable laser spectroscopy, with applications for law enforcement and employee screening of marijuana use. Phase I of the project will first demonstrate the feasibility of this aerosol concentration approach using a well-characterized dye, followed by experiments using THC aerosols generated from methanol solutions. If successful, Phase II will include measurements of exhaled breath from human marijuana users. Developing this non-invasive exhaled breath testing capability could also enable identification of virus content in breath samples.
Generated 2/25/25, 3:02 AM