Related Experiment Videos
Method comparison of EMIT 700 and EMIT II with RIA for drug screening
D A Armbruster1, R H Schwarzhoff, B L Pierce
1Armstrong Laboratory Drug Testing Division, Brooks AFB, TX 78235-5000.
Journal of Analytical Toxicology
|March 1, 1994
Summary
The EMIT II assay offers faster, easier drug screening for marijuana, cocaine, opiates, and barbiturates compared to older methods. This immunoassay provides comparable or improved accuracy for detecting drug abuse in urine samples.
Area of Science:
- Clinical Chemistry
- Toxicology
- Analytical Chemistry
Background:
- Drug abuse screening is critical in clinical and forensic settings.
- Existing methods like radioimmunoassay (RIA) can be time-consuming and complex.
- The EMIT (Enzyme Multiplied Immunoassay Technique) offers an alternative for drug testing.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the performance of EMIT 700 and EMIT II assays against Roche Abuscreen RIA for high-volume drug abuse screening.
- To evaluate the efficiency and accuracy of EMIT II for detecting specific drugs in urine samples.
Main Methods:
- Comparison of EMIT 700 and EMIT II assays with Roche Abuscreen RIA.
- Analysis of over 50,000 urine samples for marijuana, cocaine, opiates, barbiturates, and phencyclidine.
- Utilized Hitachi 717 Analyzer for EMIT assays.
Main Results:
- Both EMIT assays demonstrated speed and ease of use advantages over RIA procedures.
- EMIT II showed improved calibration curve separation for marijuana detection.
- Performance for cocaine and opiates was comparable to RIA; approximately 90% detection for marijuana.
- EMIT assays outperformed RIA in detecting confirmed-positive barbiturate samples.
Conclusions:
- EMIT II is a viable, efficient alternative for high-volume drug abuse screening.
- The EMIT II assay offers enhanced performance, particularly for marijuana and barbiturate detection.
- Both EMIT formulations provide a faster and simpler analytical process compared to RIA.