Researchers at the University of California Riverside have developed a low-cost fake drug detector that can detect fake medicines by studying how pills dissolve in water.Tested on 30+ medicines, the detector identified drugs with about 90 percent accuracy and could even distinguish between brand-name and generic versions.William Grover, associate bioengineering professor at the University of California, Riverside explained: "Watered-down or illicit versions of drugs like Botox or popular GLP-1 inhibitors have caused serious injuries or death."The theory here is that if it's a legitimate medicine, the manufacturer made every pill identical enough that they'll all behave roughly the same way when they dissolve. "So if you test a suspect pill, and it dissolves at a different rate than the real thing, this suggests the suspect pill is counterfeit." Talking about the success of the device, Grover said: "We took Bayer aspirin pills and drug-store-brand aspirin - these are basically identical medicines with the same active ingredient and very similar inactive ingredients but when ran through our tests, we could easily tell the difference between the two products." Costing as little as $5–$30, the device could help tackle the global issue of fake medicines, which the World Health Organization estimates affect 1 in 10 drugs worldwide.How Does It Work?The fake drug detector is essentially a low-cost infrared sensor made for use in toy robots able to follow lines drawn on paper. The researchers repurposed the sensors to instead track the rate at which pills dissolve in water.All pills of a given drug dissolve or ideally should dissolve at roughly the same rate. Legitimate medications don't necessarily dissolve any faster or slower than counterfeit ones however since, the are made by different people at different facilities and with different ingredients, each drug's dissolution rates form a "fingerprint" that makes them identifiable and different from that of a fake drug.What Else Can The Fake Drug Detector Be Used For?Grover notes that he would like to use this method to detect fake antimalarial drugs as they are a major cause of death in many tropical regions. Malaria is treatable with the right medications."Unfortunately, bad actors know they can make money preying on the need for antimalarials. They sell pills that have the same packaging as authentic antimalarials, but don't contain the active ingredients. If someone gives these pills to their child, they won't cure their infection."The expert also hopes to get his tool into the hands of those who can use it to fight fake antimalarials and other fake drugs."I can't imagine a more despicable person than someone who would sell fake medicine to a child. I hope our work makes those criminals' lives a little harder."