Rapid (TCA) Tricyclic Antidepressants Drug Test (Cassette) description:

The Tricyclic Antidepressants Drug Test (TCA Drug Test), or the Cortez Diagnostics, Inc. DOA (Drug of Abuse) test,  is an immunochromatography based one step in vitro test.  The Tricyclic Antidepressants drug test is designed for qualitative determination of tricyclic antidepressant drug substances in human urine specimen. This assay may be used in the point of care setting.

Tricyclic antidepressants, commonly known as TCA, are a group of antidepressant drugs. TCA are mostly administered by oral or intramascularly. The progressive symptomatology of TCA antidepressant drugs includes agitation, confusion, hallucinations, hypertonicity, seizures and EKG changes. Nortriptyline, Desipramine (Pertofran), and Imipramine (Tofranil) are the most often used TCA antidepressant drugs. TCA’s half life varies from a few hours to a few days. TCA antidepressant drugs are excreted with less than 1% of the unchanged drug.

The Tricyclic Antidepressants Drug Testing device is based on the principle of specific immunochemical reaction between antibodies and antigens to analyze particular compounds in human urine specimen. The assay relies on the competition for binding antibody between drug conjugate and free drug which may be present in the urine specimen being tested.  When the tricyclic antidepressant drug is present in the urine specimen, it competes with drug conjugate for the limited amount of antibody-dye conjugate. When the amount of tricyclic antidepressant drug is equal or more than the cut-off, it will prevent the binding of drug conjugate to the antibody. Therefore, a positive urine specimen on the Tricyclic Antidepressants Drug Test will not show a colored band on the test line zone, indicating a positive result, while the presence of a colored band indicates a negative result.  A control line is present in the test window to work as procedural control. This colored band should always appear on the control line zone if the Tricyclic antidepressants drug testing device is stored in good condition and the Tricyclic antidepressants drug test is performed appropriately.


This Tricyclic Antidepressants Drug Test (TCA Drug Test) provides only a preliminary analytical test result. A more specific alternative chemical method must be used in order to obtain a confirmed analytical result. Gas chromatography/ mass spectrometry (GC/MS) has been established as the preferred confirmatory method by the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Clinical consideration and professional judgment should be applied to any drug of abuse test result, particularly when preliminary positive results are indicated.


The optional built-in Adulteration Test is for validation of urine specimen’s integrity and must not be used for In Vitro diagnostic use. The cutoff level for this Tricyclic Antidepressants Drug Test (TCA Drug Test) is 1000ng/ml of Nortriptyline.  For customized cutoff level tricyclic antidepressants drug tests, please contact Customer Service.  This Tricyclic Antidepressants Drug Test  (TCA Drug Test) is available in multi-panel, cassette, strip, or cup format.