Qualitative Analysis of Real Drug Evidence using DART-MS and the Inverted Library Search Algorithm

Published

August 25, 2022

Author(s)

Edward Sisco, Meghan Appley, Stephen Tennyson, Arun Moorthy

Abstract

Chromatographic-less mass spectrometry techniques like direct analysis in real time mass spectrometry (DART-MS) are steadily being employed as seized drug screening tools. However, these newer analytical platforms require new computational methods to best make-use of the collected data. The inverted library search algorithm (ILSA) is a recently developed method designed specifically for working with mass spectra of mixtures collected with DART-MS, and has been implemented as a function in the NIST/NIJ DART-MS Data Interpretation Tool (DIT). This paper demonstrates how DART-MS and the ILSA/DIT can be used to analyze seized drug evidence, while discusing insights gathered during the evaluation of several adjudicated case samples. The evaluation verified that the combination of DART-MS and the ILSA/DIT can be used as an informative tool to help analysts screen seized drug evidence, but also revealed several factors an analyst must consider while employing these methods—all of these considerations are summarized in this paper.

Citation

Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry

Volume

33

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1021/jasms.2c00166

Local Download

Keywords

ILSA, Seized Drugs, Mass Spectrometry, Search Algorithms, DART-MS

Citation

Sisco, E. , Appley, M. , Tennyson, S. and Moorthy, A. (2022), Qualitative Analysis of Real Drug Evidence using DART-MS and the Inverted Library Search Algorithm, Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry, [online], https://doi.org/10.1021/jasms.2c00166, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=934637 (Accessed October 21, 2025)