Market Profile: IMS x MS
Mass spectrometry (MS) is a broadly used analytical technique that is often combined with some form of chromatography to provide a second dimension of separation. However, vendors recently have begun incorporating ion mobility separation (IMS) into high-end LC–MS instruments, thus providing an additional level of ion separation.
Mass spectrometry (MS) is a broadly used analytical technique that is often combined with some form of chromatography to provide a second dimension of separation. However, vendors recently have begun incorporating ion mobility separation (IMS) into high-end LC–MS instruments, thus providing an additional level of ion separation.
In mass spectrometry, analyte ions are separated based upon their mass-to-charge ratio. IMS, in contrast, separates ions based upon their effective size. While IMS is generally considered a poor-man's mass spectrometer, combining the two techniques into a single system provides complementary dimensions of separation, which is proving to be very useful for very dirty and complex samples. This has made IMS × MS very popular in biotechnology laboratories, as well as related CRO, academic, and government laboratories.
Ion mobility technology thus far has been incorporated as a filtering device on some Thermo Scientific triple quadrupole LC–MS systems, and as an actual separation device on Waters' high-end Q-TOF LC–MS systems. The technique is also being incorporated into some portable mass spectrometers for security applications. SDi estimates the combined market for the technique, which includes initial systems equipped with the technology, and aftermarket and service for system upgrades, to be around $40 million, and growing at a solid double-digit annual rate.
The foregoing data were based upon SDi's market analysis and perspectives report entitled Mass Spectrometry, February 2008. For more information, contact Stuart Press, Vice President – Strategic Analysis, Strategic Directions International, Inc., 6242 Westchester Parkway, Suite 100, Los Angeles, CA 90045, (310) 641-4982, fax: (310) 641-8851, www.strategic-directions.com.
Newsletter
Get essential updates on the latest spectroscopy technologies, regulatory standards, and best practices—subscribe today to Spectroscopy.
PNNL and BaySpec Launch Compact Mass Spectrometry System for Rapid Narcotics Detection
July 8th 2025The U.S. Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s (PNNL) VaporID, which is a newly developed portable air sampling system incorporating a miniaturized mass spectrometer (MS), can detect trace levels of fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, and even explosives like TNT with great accuracy.
The Role of LIBS in ChemCam and SuperCam: An Interview with Kelsey Williams, Part III
May 2nd 2025In this extended Q&A interview, we sit down with Kelsey Williams, a postdoctoral researcher at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), who is working on planetary instrumentation using spectroscopic techniques such as laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) and laser ablation molecular isotopic spectrometry (LAMIS). In Part III, Williams goes into detail about ChemCam and SuperCam and how LIBS is used in both these instruments.
