The Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) has changed its name to the New Zealand Institute for Public Health and Forensic Science (PHF Science) as of 1 July 2025. The website address is now www.phfscience.nz. Visitors are automatically redirected to the new address. Please check and update any links and bookmarks.

Products

PHF Science experts apply innovative science and technical expertise to create products that make a difference for Aotearoa New Zealand.

Data science header

About

PHF Science experts have applied their innovative science and technical expertise to the following products. Find out more below.

Lumi™ Drug Scan

Lumi™
Drug Scan

Lumi™ enables frontline officers to screen suspected drug samples on the street, in real-time.

Lumi™ Drug Scan has been developed by the New Zealand Institute for Public Health and Forensic Science Limited (PHF Science) to enable frontline responders to undertake the real-time analysis of suspected illicit drug samples at the point of interception, supporting evidence informed decision making.
 
The Lumi Drug Scan service consists of the following components:

  • Lumi Nano NIR device: A handheld near-infrared spectrometry device for analysis of samples within plastic packaging.
  • Lumi Analysis app: a mobile phone application, available for both iOS and Android, that connects Lumi Nano to the Lumi Cloud and presents results in real-time. 
  • Lumi Cloud Service: secure cloud infrastructure within your jurisdiction that stores operational data and hosts the Lumi drug detection machine-learning model.
  • Lumi Analytics Dashboard: A dashboard that presents a summary of analysis results and usage activity in temporal and spatial views for your organisation. 

STRmix™

STRmix™

STRmix™ is expert forensic software, developed by PHF Science and Forensic Science South Australia (FSSA), that can resolve previously unresolvable mixed DNA profiles.

STRmix™ uses a fully continuous approach for DNA profile interpretation, resolving complex DNA mixtures worldwide. STRmix™ software combines biological modelling and mathematical processes to achieve results not possible with traditional DNA interpretation methods.