Round-up of ASMS 2016 news

ASMS 2016: Who launched what at the conference?

By Joseph James Whitworth

- Last updated on GMT

Waters Xevo TQ-XS mass spectrometer
Waters Xevo TQ-XS mass spectrometer

Related tags Mass spectrometry

Industry gathered recently for the American Society of Mass Spectrometry conference (ASMS). We look at who launched what during the event.

This round-up features equipment news from Waters, Agilent, Bruker, Sciex, Thermo Fisher Scientific and others from the 64th​ annual conference in San Antonio, Texas earlier this month.

Waters Corporation​ introduced a benchtop tandem quadrupole instrument with the StepWave XS ion guide.

The Xevo TQ-XS mass spectrometer features ion optics, detection and ionization technologies to boost sensitivity levels. It is expected to be available for shipment from this month.

Waters said the StepWave XS ion guide removes neutral species and transmits ions in a focused beam to the detector by incorporating segmented quadrupole transfer optics in the second stage.

The result is a 2x to 10x increase in signal/noise over its StepWave predecessor and robustness over thousands of injections. The refined design allows the system to quantify challenging compounds at trace levels - even if they show poor transmission efficiency, added the firm.

The system incorporates the XDR Detector, a photomultiplier detection system, capable of quantifying sample compounds across a concentration range of six orders of magnitude.

Waters said scientists do not need to dilute and re-inject samples to stay within the limited dynamic range of the instrument they have been using.

Gary Harland, senior director MS product management, said UPLC-MS quantitative studies are more important than ever and factor into just about every decision made by scientists.

“Today’s customers need to carry out reproducible quantitative studies and reach lower limits of quantification with an instrument that is accessible to all users. With this new mass spectrometer, our product designers pioneered some ingenious electronic and mechanical advances.”

Bruker ​introduced a mass spectrometry technology platform.

timsTOF-Bruker
Bruker timsTOF

The timsTOF system combines ion mobility resolution greater than 200, using Bruker’s Trapped Ion Mobility Spectrometry (TIMS), with ESI-QTOF mass spectrometry.

It is a research-grade instrument for separation and analysis of unresolved compounds and conformations. 

Bruker's Ion Mobility Expansion (imeX) TIMS technology gives ion mobility resolution that can be adjusted to research or analytical needs. 

Dr Melvin Park, director of research at Bruker Daltonics, said the system takes ion mobility performance to the next level. 

“Years of experience in the application of TIMS design and solid engineering are merged in this novel instrument to set new standards in ion mobility resolution.”

ACD/Labs​ launched MetaSense an automated metabolite identification platform.

Built on the ACD/Spectrus Platform, MetaSense allows the information gained in metabolite studies to be applied in other areas of R&D.

Scientists are faced with increasing pressures to do more with less, said Richard Lee, solution manager at ACD/Labs.

“Having spoken to a number of MetID and DMPK groups, I was surprised to learn of the lack of effective tools to manage metabolite knowledge, and the continued burden of manual data processing and analysis.

“The challenge to more accurately and rapidly identify metabolites and determine the most promising drug candidates must be balanced with shrinking groups and sometimes dilution of expertise.”

Sciex​ unveiled the QTRAP 6500+ LC-MS/MS system to strengthen its high performance nominal mass spectrometry portfolio.

sciex qtrap 6500+
SCIEX QTRAP 6500+

It achieves improved sensitivity and selectivity over previous generations for small molecule quantitation and uses the BioBA Solution for large molecule quantitation.

Sciex said mass spec users have asked for more selectivity, as samples have become more complex, creating interferences that standard triple quad techniques, like MRM, can no longer fully resolve.

The multi-component IonDrive Technology with the IonDrive High Energy Detector+ (HED) helps LC-MS/MS quantitation.

The firm said the increased detection area delivers sensitivity improvements in positive mode ionization and in negative mode ionization in the low mass region, depending on the analyte.

SelexION+ ion mobility technology provides an orthogonal separation prior to mass separation.

The system has a 2x increase in ion transmission and offers labs a tool for eliminating isobaric background interferences in complex assays, making quantitation in complex samples easier and less time consuming.

Thermo Fisher Scientific​ and 908 Devices demonstrated the combination of ZipChip microfluidics separation technology with mass spectrometry for MS analysis of biomolecules.

Customers using the Thermo Scientific Exactive series, Q Exactive series and LTQ Orbitrap Hybrid FT mass spectrometers can use 908 Devices’ ZipChip.

ZipChip uses integrated microfluidics to separate biological samples in three minutes or less prior to MS characterization, and requires a few nanoliters of sample.

Users can select between two chip types—ZipChip HS for small molecule analysis and peptide mapping or ZipChip HR for intact large molecules.

Meanwhile, the Thermo Fisher Cloud -a computing platform that connects scientists, instruments and software - has expanded so users can monitor instrument performance and integrate multi-omics data.

Mark Sanders, senior director, software platform management, life sciences mass spectrometry at Thermo Fisher, said whether it is determining the identity of a contaminant in baby formula or tackling problems in life sciences research, scientists need to be able to share information and mine large amounts of data to gain the insights needed.

“For this reason, we are moving forward aggressively our Thermo Fisher Cloud technology, but we also realize that the adoption of cloud-based computing will vary by industry and application. We understand the importance of fostering a hybrid environment as needs evolve, and our goal is to provide software solutions that can be deployed on the cloud or locally in the lab.”

Agilent 8900 Triple Quad ICP-MS
Agilent 8900 Triple quad ICP-MS

Agilent​ launched an inductively coupled plasma/mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) system to detect previously difficult elements, such as sulfur, silicon and phosphorus.

The 8900 Triple Quadrupole ICP-MS system also includes a fast detector that the firm said ‘sets a new benchmark’ for single nanoparticle applications.

The firm also introduced the first commercially available ion source that cleans itself.

The Agilent JetClean self-cleaning ion source is designed to keep quadrupole gas chromatography/mass spectrometry systems free of matrix deposits that would otherwise build up and degrade instrument performance.

Phytronix Technologies​ presented the Luxon Ion Source at the event for a high throughout process.

Based on the LDTD technology (Laser Diode Thermal Desorption), the Luxon Ion Source is powered by Fiber-Coupled optic.

It offers performance and robustness in applications with very low sample volumes for quantitative analysis and sample analysis in less than one second per sample with 24/7 runtime capability.

Jean Lacoursière, president of Phytronix Technologies, said: “The reality our clients face is the need to run more samples to achieve a faster return on investment and the Luxon Ion Source offers the ultimate solution.

“For the food safety market, the Luxon Ion Source efficiently and autonomously handles analysis processes with over 60 million samples a year.”

LEAP Technologies (Leap) and Antec​ are to work together in sample preparation for HDX/MS and presented this approach at ASMS.

Leap is a provider of automated Hydrogen Deuterium Exchange (HDX) workstations that allow for labeling, quenching and injection of protein samples under cold conditions.

Antec has the ROXY electrochemical system, providing electrochemical reduction of disulfide bonds in proteins/peptides.

The full integration enables reducing disulfide bonds in proteins/peptides in a fraction of the time compared with the use of reducing agents (TCEP).

LEAP Technologies was acquired earlier this year by Trajan Scientific and Medical.

Antec is a supplier of analyzers using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) with Electrochemical Detection (EC). Validated applications for environmental, food and pharmaceutical analysis have been developed using the ALEXYS LC-EC systems.

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