A Virginia research company may become the thorn in the side of athletes that have been using human growth hormone and getting away with it. Due to the heavy drug testing for performance-enhancing drugs, anabolic steroids have become virtually impossible to use. Many have turned to HGH, which was only detectable through a blood test.

The scientists “developed particles that can trap microscopic elements in fluid,” according to a report in the International Herald Tribune. It may take six months or more for baseline testing to be conducted until the test could be used.

The heads of the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB all agreed during congressional hearings in February that they preferred urinalysis over the more invasive blood tests for HGH, which can only detect the substance over a 24 to 48-hour period. The urine test in question will be able to detect after a much longer period of time.

Anti-doping expert Don Catlin was quoted in the report as saying, “The company is certainly legitimate. This is not a hoax. Their strategy, their idea, is a great one – if it works.’

Catlin, who has been studying HGH for 10 years, further stated that this “could be a quantam leap forward.”