This report describes a research project that had the main goal of developing an expert algorithm for substance identification that would address several needs of the Forensic Science Research and Development Technical Working Group; it presents the research objectives, methodology, and outcomes.
This document reports on a research project that aimed to develop an expert algorithm for substance identification (EASI) that would address several defined needs of the Forensic Science Research and Development Technical Working Group (TWG), including: solutions to challenges identifying novel psychoactive substances (NPS) such as opioids; error rate studies on qualitative analysis; ability to identify NPS by comparison to spectra from a different instrument rather than a reference standard; and continued advancement of practical forensic application or development of emerging or current instrumentation and software. The authors’ three objectives to help meet the overall project goal were: database generation; model development; and performance characterization. The report describes the authors’ research study methodology, and how they achieved their project goals.