Automation of solid-phase microextraction in high-throughput format and applications to drug analysis

The automation of solid-phase microextraction (SPME) coupled to liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was accomplished using a 96 multiwell plate format, a SPME multifiber device, two orbital shakers, and a three-arm robotic system. Extensive optimization of the proposed setup was performed including coating selection, optimization of the fiber coating procedure, confirmation of uniform agitation in all wells, and the selection of the optimal calibration method. The system allows the use of pre-equilibrium extraction times with no deterioration in method precision due to reproducible timing of extraction and desorption steps and reproducible positioning of all fibers within the wells. The applicability of the system for the extraction of several common drugs is demonstrated. The optimized multifiber SPME-LC-MS/MS was subsequently fully validated for the high-throughput analysis of diazepam, lorazepam, nordiazepam, and oxazepam in human whole blood. The proposed method allowed the automated sample preparation of 96 samples in 100 min, which represents the highest throughput of any SPME technique to date, while achieving excellent accuracy (87-113%), precision (<= 20% RSD), and sensitivity (limit of quantitation 4 ng/mL). Automated SPME provides unique advantages over automated solid-phase extraction (SPE) including lower cost, the ability to quantitatively determine free and total drug concentrations in a single biofluid sample, and the ability to directly process whole blood samples with absolutely no sample pretreatment required.