Pumping Ions – An Exercise in Engineering Sensitivity Into the Xevo TQ-XS Mass Spectrometer

Pumping Ions – An Exercise in Engineering Sensitivity Into the Xevo TQ-XS Mass Spectrometer

The challenge: Create the most sensitive mass spectrometer for quantitative analysis. That’s a tall order for any design engineering team. When given that assignment for a next-generation, tandem quadrupole mass spectrometer, our design engineers first spoke to those for whom analytical sensitivity means the most: scientists doing quantitative studies for demanding clients relying on accurate…

High-throughput Microscale Bioanalysis is not a Paradox

High-throughput Microscale Bioanalysis is not a Paradox

  Question: When someone says microscale chromatography, what comes to mind? Increased sensitivity? Reduced sample volume? Enhanced MS sampling efficiency? Yes, yes, and yes! You might also say, “finicky,” “slow,” or “only one person in our group knows how to use it!” Maybe even, “there’s no way I can successfully transfer that method, so why…

Tandem Quad Mass Spectrometry: The Foundation of Product Safety, Efficacy, and Decision-making

Tandem Quad Mass Spectrometry: The Foundation of Product Safety, Efficacy, and Decision-making

There is a rightfully high expectation from consumers that the amounts of compounds and ingredients that producers report in their goods are accurate down to trace levels.  Whether personally or professionally, we all rely on this analytical information coming from laboratories that enables critical decisions to be made. Analytical chemists have been performing quantitative studies…

What’s the big deal about ion mobility mass spectrometry?

What’s the big deal about ion mobility mass spectrometry?

Ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) is a technique that differentiates ions based on their size, shape, charge, and mass. While often used in small, portable devices at airports and remote locations for rapidly detecting small molecules whose mobility is known (for example, certain narcotics and explosives) when coupled with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC/MS), IMS provides an…

Mass detection and mAb QC: How a cost-effective and robust peptide mapping method confirms CDR peptides – and can be validated

Mass detection and mAb QC: How a cost-effective and robust peptide mapping method confirms CDR peptides – and can be validated

The quality issues of biopharmaceutical therapeutics are definitely different from chemical drugs because of the increased complexity of manufacturing processes and complexity of the biologic molecules themselves. There is an increasing need for detailed product characterization and control of the manufacturing process. Sheng Hou et.al. have developed and validated a practical, cost efficient, robust adalimumab…

Ion Mobility Mass Spectrometry – Catch the Excitement!

Ion Mobility Mass Spectrometry – Catch the Excitement!

Interest in ion mobility mass spectrometry (IMS) technology is growing rapidly. The signs are everywhere. Since the year 2000, the number of abstracts submitted to ASMS mentioning ion mobility has grown more than 10-fold – from 30 to more than 350 in 2015. For most of that time, ion mobility has been available commercially in…

ACQUITY Arc System: Transferring Validated HPLC Methods within USP Guidelines

ACQUITY Arc System: Transferring Validated HPLC Methods within USP Guidelines

The thought of transferring established high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) methods onto a another vendor’s LC, or a new platform like UHPLC/UPLC, may cause a bit of anxiety for those that may be unaware of how easy it can be. The reason that the topic of analytical method transfer induces so much angst is that…

Can Sports Cars Increase Testosterone?

Can Sports Cars Increase Testosterone?

According to published reports by Hiscox UK in 2008,  just listening to the sound of a sports car increased salivary testosterone levels in male and female participants. Another study, by Gad Saad et al, measured a testosterone increase in men who were given the opportunity to drive a $150,000 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet for an…

Is Ion Mobility Mass Spectrometry Child’s Play?

Is Ion Mobility Mass Spectrometry Child’s Play?

On Wednesday evening after dinner and my usual digestif, I was watching the webcast “Making Ion Mobility Mass Spectrometry Routine” when my son walked by. “Wow dad, that’s kind of cool! What the heck is it?” he asked. “It’s ion mobility!! It’s an orthogonal and complementary resource for chromatography and mass spectrometry…” The digestif was…