LONDON -- British researchers have developed a new, highly sensitive, anti-doping steroid test technique using hydropyrolysis, a technique that has previously been used for oil exploration.

Researchers at the University of Nottingham has refined the hydropyrolysis technique which uses high pressure environments to investigate the chemical structure and make-up of a sample to develop highly accurate tests for detecting levels of illicit steroids in the urine of athletes, according to a press release on Wednesday by the university.

The test procedure is already in the process of being commercialized and is expected to be ready for use in the 2012 Olympics, it said.

High pressure hydrogen is used to bombard the sample at pressures of 150 atmospheres and temperatures of up to 500 degrees Celsius, leaving sample molecules in a cleaner, less degraded state than other extraction techniques, thus allowing more accurate readings to be taken, according to the researchers.

Carbon isotopes are then measured, with the results showing the ratios of carbon 12 and carbon 13 in the sample whether geochemical or biological, Colin Snape, Professor of Chemical Technology and Chemical Engineering at the University, said.

"Steroids are produced naturally in the body, but they have a different ratio between carbon 13 and carbon 12 to those that have been introduced illicitly. By refining the measurements of these two isotopes we can produce a very accurate test for the presence of illegal steroids in athletes," he said.

"We are currently working with the World Anti-Doping Agency ( WADA) to develop the technique for trial and have entered into partnership with Strata Technology, a London-based company with expertise in high pressure equipment, to commercialize the technique," Snape said.

The technique is also being used to refine current radio carbon dating processes, which use the carbon 14 isotope to measure the age of an archaeological sample.