Lumi™ Drug Scan: A scientific innovation for safer policing
The Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR), alongside New Zealand Police, has developed an innovative testing solution and mobile app that’s enabling evidence-based decision-making on the frontline with rapid and reliable drug identification.
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Mr Dion Sheppard (left) and Acting Assistant Commissioner: Investigations Mike Johnson (right) stand with Constable Wepiha Te Kanawa (centre) who is holding the Lumi™ Drug Scan device.
Mr Dion Sheppard, Lumi™ Drug Scan Manager, was leading the forensic research and development team at ESR and was at the table circa 2020 when New Zealand Police put forward their problem.
“They needed a tool that could provide a scientific result to support real-time decision-making when locating suspected illicit drug samples. It needed to improve on current limitations of existing field tests, such as chemical hazards, the need to physically interact with the sample, and the inability to maintain custody of the item,” says Dion.
ESR had already been working on using machine learning to build analytical models for its laboratory instrument results. The Police requirement was an opportunity to apply this technology into a frontline mobility setting for Police.
He knew the solution wouldn’t be as straightforward as the problem, but he was confident that, through the co-designed project, ESR and New Zealand Police had the expertise and ideas to develop a solution.
Developing a drug detection solution for New Zealand Police
From the outset, ESR had frontline officers, as the end users, front of mind.
By combining near-infrared spectroscopy, artificial intelligence and machine learning with a user-friendly mobile app, ESR drew from its extensive experience and forensic capabilities to create a solution that gives frontline officers the scientific data they need to make evidence-based decisions when encountering suspected drugs. Dion explains how it works:
“The officer places suspected drugs on the handheld device, which then scans and transmits the data to the cloud for analysis, instantly providing a result via the mobile app to support their decision-making.
“The sophisticated Lumi™ machine learning model has been trained on more than 600,000 drug sample scans and can accurately identify different drugs, even when present with different cutting agents, mixtures and levels of purity – all without the need to directly handle any unknown substances.
“The beauty of a machine learning model is its ability to tolerate mixtures and still identify target compounds accurately as opposed to traditional library matching solutions that require high levels of purity to get a clean result,” Dion says.
Lumi™ Drug Scan workflow uses machine learning to instantly deliver an accurate, evidence-based result.
Enabling innovation through strategic scientific funding
Lumi™ Drug Scan is now fully deployed by New Zealand Police and is proving to be a game-changing innovation creating significant impact through supporting safer policing and drug harm reduction in communities.
Dion says ESR's long-term partnership with Police, experience in forensic science, and ability to leverage expertise from across the organisation have been key to its success.
But none of that would have been possible without the long-term funding from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.
The Lumi™ Drug Scan team were recognised at the 2023 Science New Zealand Awards.
“The Government’s investment through the Strategic Science Investment Fund and with PreSeed Accelerator funding accessed through pooling partner KiwiNet has provided the resourcing to allow us to take a chance on this project and try to really push the boundaries on what we can deliver.
“We’ve had the space, time and commitment to be able to focus on developing a practical, user-centred solution, continuously improving and refining that solution, and exploring and expanding the technology's capabilities beyond what any of us thought could be possible.”
Taking Lumi™ to the world
While commercialisation wasn’t initially on the cards, Lumi™ Drug Scan’s success story is just getting started.
ESR continues to leverage its expertise in forensic science and data science to deliver an innovative and impactful technology for policing, including refining and improving the Lumi™ near-infrared spectroscopy device pictured above.
ESR is now working with law enforcement agencies in Australia and the United Kingdom to explore opportunities for Lumi™ Drug Scan’s application beyond New Zealand.
“It's been an incredible journey so far of collaboration, problem-solving, and putting cutting-edge science into the hands of those who need it most,” Dion says.
“The team is really excited about what’s coming next, including how we can test and develop the solution further to better meet the needs of New Zealand Police and make it relevant for other law enforcement in different countries.”
You can read more about Lumi™ Drug Scan at their website.
Lumi Drug Scan(external link) — lumidrugscan.com