Xevo MRT System in Action: Driving Innovation in Mass Spectrometry 

Analytical labs today face mounting pressure: ever more complex samples, rising regulatory demands, and the need to generate answers faster than ever. Traditional mass spectrometry approaches can require compromises, either in data quality or in analytical efficiency, making it harder for scientists to meet demanding timelines with full confidence in their results. 

Waters Xevo MRT Mass Spectrometer is redefining expectations in high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS). In the “Xevo MRT in Action” webinar series, Waters scientists take participants behind the scenes to explore the instrument’s cutting-edge hardware, intuitive software, and real-world applications across pharmaceutical, environmental, and metabolomics workflows. 

Hardware Innovation Meets Analytical Power 

The Challenge: Traditional mass spectrometry approaches can require compromises, either in data quality or in analytical efficiency, making it harder for scientists to meet demanding timelines with full confidence in their results. 

“The acquisition system has no compromises. It maintains the mass accuracy, the resolution, and the sensitivity that we get from the instrument itself.”

Jason Wildgoose, Technology and Engineering Lead

In this session, Jason Wildgoose, Technology and Engineering Lead, walks through the Xevo MRT system architecture, from the universal ion source and MS1 region to the novel gas cell and Phase Volume Manipulator (PVM). These components work together to deliver exceptional ion transmission, resolution, and sensitivity. The multi-reflecting time-of-flight analyzer, with its gridless design, enables over 4 meters of flight path in a compact footprint, achieving 100% ion transmission and sub-ppm mass accuracy. 

Rachel Sanig, Senior Scientist, introduces the waters_connect Software Platform, which streamlines acquisition and data processing. Users can set up methods, calibrate instruments, process data with the LC-MS Toolkit, and export into mzML format for third-party software. Features such as real-time data viewing, elemental composition analysis, and compatibility with UNIFI ensure flexibility and accelerate time-to-result. 

Real-World Applications – From Metabolites to PFAS 

The Challenge: When deadlines are tight, no one has time for workflows that can’t handle sample complexity. 

“We can get sub-PPM mass accuracy for most of the metabolites that we see on the analysis.” – Isabel Riba 

“The mass accuracy of the Xevo MRT is unprecedented for a benchtop instrument … with a root mean square lower than 700 parts per billion.” – Dr. Hania Khoury-Hollins

In this session, Isabel Riba, Principal Applications Chemist, demonstrates a metabolite identification workflow using verapamil. She highlights the ease of system setup, calibration, and data acquisition on the Xevo MRT System, with sub-ppm mass accuracy across metabolites in complex biotransformation studies. 

Dr. Hania Khoury-Hollins, Principal Scientist, presents a PFAS analysis case study. Using waters_connect Software and the UNIFI Application, she shows how the Xevo MRT Mass Spectrometer maintains mass accuracy below 700 ppb across hundreds of injections. The Pattern Analysis application further enhances non-targeted screening reliability by leveraging PFAS-specific characteristics such as mass defects and carbon ratios, enabling confident identification of unknowns in environmental samples.

Advanced Acquisition Strategies for Deeper Insights 

The Challenge: High-stakes analyses demand methods that can adapt to both qualitative analysis and quantitative validation. 

“We can characterize and quantify a wide range of molecules using deep data dependent acquisition in a quantitative measure using the Xevo MRT.”

Dr. Susan Slade 

In the Part 3 session, Martin Palmer, Principal Consulting Scientist, compares data-independent acquisition (MSE) with data-dependent acquisition (DDA), showing how each can be tailored to specific analytical goals. DDA benefits from Xevo MRT MS’s improved duty cycle and high-speed switching, enabling both qualitative and quantitative analysis in a single run. 

Dr. Susan Slade presents pesticide data, demonstrating high-confidence MS/MS spectra and accurate quantitation—even at sub-ppb levels in complex matrices. The LC-MS Toolkit Application allows users to interrogate DDA switch tables, extract spectra, and refine acquisition strategies, illustrating how Xevo MRT MS’s flexibility directly supports efficiency in high-stakes workflows. 

Conclusión

The Xevo MRT MS is more than a mass spectrometer—it’s a complete analytical platform that empowers scientists to push the boundaries of discovery. Whether you’re identifying trace-level contaminants, characterizing biopharmaceuticals, or exploring unknown metabolites, the Xevo MRT MS delivers unmatched performance, flexibility, and confidence. 

Explore the full “Xevo MRT in Action” webinar series to see how Waters scientists can help you turn analytical challenges into confident results and learn more about the Xevo MRT Mass Spectrometer on Waters.com.