Biocompatible C18-polyacrylonitrile (PAN) coating was used as the extraction phase for an automated 96-blade solid phase microextraction (SPME) system with thin-film geometry. Three different methods of coating preparation (dipping, brush painting, and spraying) were evaluated; the spraying method was optimum in terms of its stability and reusability. The high-throughput sample preparation was achieved by using a robotic autosampler that enabled simultaneous preparation of 96 samples in 96-well-plate format. The increased volume of the extraction phase of the C18-PAN thin film coating resulted in significant enhancement in the extraction recovery when compared with that of the C18-PAN rod fibers. Various factors, such as reusability, reproducibility, pH stability, and reliability of the coating were evaluated. The results showed that the C18-PAN 96-blade SPME coating presented good extraction recovery, long-term reusability, good reproducibility, and biocompatibility. The limits of detection and quantitation were in the ranges of 0.1-0.3 and 0.5-1 ng/mL for all four analytes.

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Three different biocompatible polymers were tested and evaluated in order to improve the whole-blood biocompatibility of previously developed C18-polyacrylonitrile (C18-PAN) thin-film solid-phase microextraction (SPME) coating. Among all methods of modification, UV-dried thin PAN-over C18-PAN provided the best results. This coating presented reusable properties and reproducible extraction efficiency for at least 30 direct extractions of diazepam from whole blood [relative standard deviation (RSD) = 12% using external calibration and 4% using isotope dilution calibration]. The amount of absolute recovery for direct immersion analysis and based on the free concentration of diazepam in blood matrix was about 4.8% (desorption efficiency = 98%). The limit of quantitation (LOQ) for the developed solid-phase microextraction liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (SPME-LC-MS/MS) method for direct whole-blood analysis was 0.5 ng/mL. The optimized modification of the coating was then used for an extracted blood spot (EBS) sampling approach, a new sampling method which is introduced to address the limitations of dried blood spot sampling. EBS was evaluated using LC-MS/MS and direct analysis in real time (DART)-MS/MS, where, for a 5 μL blood spot, LOQs of 0.2 and 1 μg/mL, respectively, were achieved for extraction of diazepam.

The use of thin-film solid-phase microextraction (SPME) as the sampling preparation step before direct analysis in real time (DART) was evaluated for the determination of two prohibited doping substances, cocaine and methadone, in urine samples. Results showed that thin-film SPME improves the detectability of these compounds: signal-to-blank ratios of 5 (cocaine) and 13 (methadone) were obtained in the analysis of 0.5 ng/ml in human urine. Thin-film SPME also provides efficient sample cleanup, avoiding contamination of the ion source by salt residues from the urine samples. Extraction time was established in 10 min, thus providing relatively short analysis time and high throughput when combined with a 96-well shaker and coupled with DART technique.