Products
Special Issues
Products
Biomarker discovery system
The Nanotrap Biomarker Discovery Platform from Shimadzu, Ceres Nanosciences, and Nonlinear Dynamics consists of core-shell hydrogel particles with porous interiors and size-exclusion shells. The system is intended to deliver affinity selection and size exclusion in one step to detect biomarkers that have low sensitivity and specificity. Low-abundance biomarkers reportedly can be harvested directly from complex samples for early disease detection. The system is designed to be used with a MALDI MS system for biomarker screening and identification. The informatics component of the system consists of Progenesis MALDI software for generating proteomics data to define biomarkers. Shimadzu Scientific Instruments, Inc., Columbia, MD;
Microchannel plate detectors
PHOTONIS' TruFlite microchannel plates and detector assemblies are designed for time-of-flight MS measurements. The plates' input surface reportedly reduces uncertainty in ion arrival time, or time jitter, and surface flatness is measured and controlled. According to the company, the pore size and bias angle are optimized to improve mass detection. The microchannel plates and detectors are available with 18-mm and 25-mm active areas. PHOTONIS USA, Sturbridge, MA;
Mass spectrometers
Thermo Fisher Scientific's LTQ Velos and LTQ Orbitrap Velos MS systems are designed for coupling to UHPLC systems. The systems feature a dual-pressure trap design with two discrete pressure regions that reportedly allow the decoupling of ion manipulation and detection. According to the company, the systems, which also include an atmospheric pressure ionization source, deliver increased sensitivity, improved ion transmission, and more efficient trapping and fragmentation of ions. Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA;
MALDI MS system
Bruker's ultrafleXtreme MALDI TOF/TOF MS system is designed for a variety of applications. According to the company, the instrument offers 1-kHz laser and system electronics in MS and MS-MS modes; molecular identification with sub-ppm mass accuracy and up to 40,000 (FWHH) resolution; expanded protein–peptide identification capabilities with wider mass range analysis capabilities; molecular imaging with 10-µm laser focus resolution, a nondestructive laser; a self-cleaning ion source; and optimized software packages for many applications. Bruker Daltonics, Inc., Billerica, MA.
HILIC columns
The Acclaim hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) columns from Dionex are designed for separating highly hydrophilic analytes, including hydrophilic drugs and drug metabolites. The columns reportedly are based on high-purity, spherical, porous silica gel that is covalently modified with a neutral hydrophilic layer. According to the company, the columns retain highly polar molecules that are not retained by reversed-phase media. The columns are available in 150 mm × 2.1, 3.0, and 4.6 mm dimensions with 3-µm particles. The Acclaim RSLC HILIC columns are available in 150 mm × 2.1 mm dimensions with 2.2-µm particles. Dionex Corporation, Sunnyvale, CA;
Triple-quadrupole GC–MS-MS system
The Agilent 7000B triple-quadrupole GC–MS-MS system is designed to provide ultratrace-level results and shorten analysis times for target compounds in complex samples. The system reportedly provides femtogram-level sensitivity for analyses such as pesticides, PAHs, PCBs, pyrethroids, THC, and steroids in food, environmental, pharmaceutical, and forensic matrices. According to the company, the system was designed specifically for high-temperature separations of complex matrices. Agilent Technologies, Inc., Santa Clara, CA;
Mass spectrometer
The Waters SYNAPT G2 mass spectrometer is designed for use in biopharmaceutical, metabolite identification, metabonomics, proteomics, biomarker studies, and food and environmental applications. According to the company, the quadrupole time-of-flight system features greater than 40,000 FWHM resolution, high sensitivity, a data acquisition rate of 20 spectra/s, exact mass (1 ppm RMS) information, and a dynamic range of up to five orders of magnitude. Waters Corporation, Milford, MA.
Portable GC–MS system
Torion's GUARDION-7 portable GC-torodial MS system features electronic pressure control of the helium carrier gas and is available with rechargeable batteries for longer field operating times. According to the company, the system weighs less then 30 lb, is the size of a brief case, operates on battery power, and has an on-board helium carrier cartridge. Torion Technologies Inc., American Fork, UT.
