本研究室研發一種能夠在緊急情況下快速偵測乙醯氨酚的新分光光度檢驗法。首先，我們利用震盪混合器(vortex mixer)，將乙醯氨酚（以下簡稱本藥）萃取入乙基醋酸(ethyl acetate)中。因本藥的結構中具有對苯羥基可將雙價銅離子還原成單價的銅離子，而後者可與二辛可寧酸(bicinchoninic acid, BCA)作用產生一呈色化合物，其最大吸光在562nm。本法之偵測線性由50至400μg/mL。本法之偵測精確度在兩組品管檢體（44及195μg/mL）測得之變異係數分別為5.0及4.5%。本研究亦將測得之本法數據與其他兩種標準法（HPLC及席夫氏法）同時進行偵測所獲之數據，經統計分析其相關係數分別為0.98以及0.99。其次，我們也利用一些可能會對本法造成干擾之化合物，以外加形式加入含本藥之血清，測試是否會造成不良之分析現象。結果發現均無造成干擾現象，表示本法相當有特異性。另外，本法每一檢體之分析時間均在10 min之內。因此，我們認為本法極為簡便，容易操作，非常適合緊急情況用，堪稱為急診室偵測本藥最優的良法。

A novel spectrophotometric method for rapid quantification of acetaminophen in serum that is particularly suited for emergency usage is described. Free unconjugated acetaminophen is separated from other endogenous interferents by extracting the drug into ethyl acetate by simply using a vortex mixer. Subsequently, the cupric ions in the reagent are reduced by the phenolic hydroxyl groups present in the drug. The resultant cuprous ions then interacted with bicinchoninic acid (BCA) to form a chromophore which absorbs maximally at 562 nm. The proposed method has a linearity range from 50 to 400 μg/mL. The method was precise with day-to-day coefficients of variation (CVs) for two controls (44 and 195 μg/mL) of 5.0 and 4.5%, respectively. Results obtained by the proposed method correlated excellently with those determined by either an established HPLC or a Schiff's base dye formation method with correlation coefficients of 0.98 and 0.99, respectively. A group of commonly used prescription drugs or compounds of potential interferents were tested and found not to interfere. The proposed method for acetaminophen determination, which has a turnaround time of <10 min, is simple and rapid. For this reason, it is especially suitable for the screening of drug overdose in an emergency situation.