Table 2.

Comparative summary of DCT specifications (Kerr & Tupper, 2017)

Technology	Detect a wide variety of compounds	Ability to detect fentanyl and other opioids	Ability to detect multiple compounds at once	Specificity	Sensitivity	Quantitative analysis	Identify unknown compounds	Speed per sample
Colorimetric Reagent Testing	Moderate	Low	Low	Low	Low	No	No	<6 min
Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR)	High	Moderate	High	High	High	Low	No	<2 min
Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC)	Moderate	Weak	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Low	No	30 min
Capillary Electrophoresis with UV detection	High	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	No	<2 min*
High Performance Liquid Chromatography with UV detection	High	High	High	High	High	High	No	15 min
High Performance Liquid Chromatography with MS detection	Highest	Very high	Very high	Very high	Highest	Highest	Yes	7.5 min*

^*These durations are estimates based on machine-specific run times alone, and do not include collection, preparation, report generation, or consultation¹