Agilent unveils triple quad LC/MS with smaller footprint
The Ultivo triple quad has a footprint that is 70% smaller than previous instruments and the firm said it offers the same or better performance than other LC/TQ MS on the market.
Agilent said it was able to do this without compromising performance or user experience thanks to breakthroughs in patented component design and manufacturing.
The instrument is designed for the food and environmental routine testing segments using triple quad LC/MS systems for quantitative analyses.
A pain point for lab managers
Agilent said a key pain point for managers in food and environment labs is ensuring that analysis is correct the first time, minimizing the need to re-analyse and maximizing productivity.
“Ultivo is fine-tuned for accuracy and precision, delivering the selectivity and sensitivity needed to confidently report a result first time. It also inherits other key capabilities of our other instruments like spectral verification of a compound’s identity when it is detected,” the firm told us.
“Food and environmental labs never want to report a false positive and this type of novel capability is proving increasing popular with our busier customers who have many results to review.
“Food and environmental routine testing segments deal with some of the most challenging samples of all our customers and it is exactly this sort of capability they have been looking for from our industry, so they can keep their dirty extracts but also rely on continuous high performance analysis.”
Ultivo also improves reliability and robustness for an LC Tandem Quadrupole analysis as well as making maintenance easier and quicker when needed, including intelligent diagnostics providing readbacks to identify issues and VacShield vacuum provides vent-less ion injector exchange capabilities that reduce wear and tear and facilitate front-end maintenance.
It was designed to meet or exceed detection limits and dynamic range requirements specified by most of the important regulatory standards commonly used by customers in commercial, high throughput food and environmental labs.
The mass range accommodates analysis of compounds found in food and environmental.
For measurements requiring higher mass ranges, the Agilent 6470 and 6495 systems provide sensitivity and selectivity needed for application areas such as metabolomics or quantitative proteomics.
Ultivo’s patented Cyclone Ion Guide ensures ion transmission efficiency and the Vortex Collision Cell provides consistent mass fragmentation for higher ion transmission efficiencies and clearance.
Smaller instrument footprint
Agilent said the instrument’s hardware design reduces down-time needed for maintenance.
“Food and environmental labs all have their own balance of how much sample clean-up they do and even within one lab that can mean different levels of extract complexity depending on the many different sample types they will be analyzing. This all means that different labs may have different policies for the amount of maintenance they do.
“The 70% smaller footprint and stackable nature of Ultivo allows a laboratory to process up to 3X more samples in the same space that is occupied by larger Triple Quad LC/MS.”
Food and environmental testing segments commonly use LC/TQ MS systems for quantitative analyses, said Agilent.
“These markets are strategically important to Agilent because ensuring that we share a clean environment with current and future generations that includes air that is safe to breathe, water that is safe to drink, and food that is safe to eat will continue to be critical challenges to current and developing nations.
“As development and globalization continues to progress, the need will continue to be increasingly acute. Robust and sensitive mass spectrometry systems are needed and the rate of innovation is fast. Certainly we see significant contribution to our revenues from these sectors.”
Ultivo’s software platform contains Agilent’s MassHunter software which simplifies data acquisition, method setup and data analysis and reporting.
MassHunter Quant-My-Way allows administrators to personalize by using one of several preconfigured ‘flavors’ designed for specific workflows.
