Multi-panel drug test kits are most popularly used drug test kits for detecting drug usage by the person. A sample specimen like urine, hair, saliva, etc, is collected from the sample and that sample is tested using the device. Here we are talking about urine drug test kits which are used to detect drug metabolites in urine. In general multi-panel drug test kits are available in two forms – strips and cups. Even though the working principle is same for both the devices, there is a difference in their construction and the way we handle it. Let us the see the major differences in both the devices.
Multi-panel drug test strip: These strips are the flat and small devices which are made to identify 2-12 combination of drugs using the urine sample. Different combinations of drugs are identified using these strips and the most popular is the 5- panel drug test strip. This 5 panel drug test strip includes the detection of all the popularly used drugs and those which are identified by SAMSHA and NIDA. The popularly abused drugs include: Marijuana, cocaine, opiates, PCP and amphetamines. Different absorbent ends are given for individual drug identification and the result areas are different for each drug. This kind of arrangement enables the users about the name of the drug. However, these strips do have some drawbacks which are corrected in drug test cups.
Multi-panel drug test cups: These cups are devices which are used to detect drug metabolites in the urine. They function similar to the strips but the way they constructed are some what different. They are easy ways to collect the sample and read results. In these cups the result panel is attached to the cup it self and there is no need of dipping the strip and handling the sample. After collecting the sample in to the cup we can simply close the lid and can read the results after 5 minutes by removing the sticker on the result area. Since there is no such facility in the strips and there is a risk of sample spilling and making the person uncomfortable, drug test strips are less preferred.