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January 11, 2019 | News & Notices New Probe Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometer Enables Quick Detection of Pharmacological Agents and Metabolites

LCMS-8060 Mass Spectrometer with a probe electrospray ionization unit installed

 

Dedicated unit for the PESI technique DPiMS-8060 (installed)

 

Shimadzu Corporation announces the release of a mass spectrometer with a probe electrospray ionization unit installed. With this optional dedicated unit, “DPiMS-8060,” the product enables “Probe Electrospray Ionization” (hereinafter referred to as PESI technique). The PESI technique was developed in 2007. It uses a thin needle to take a micro quantity of analyte and applies a high voltage for ionization.* As ionization is performed without a chromatograph, the time required for preparation and analysis can be reduced.

Usually, a solvent and column need to be prepared and the concentration of the sample needs to be checked before measurement using a mass spectrometer. For this reason, there has always been a demand for a simple, quick measurement procedure. Direct ionization techniques, including the PESI technique, minimize various pretreatment processes such as removal of proteins, dilution of samples, and centrifugation. Therefore, these techniques are suitable for real-time monitoring because of their simple and fast processes. Specifically, they can be used in forensics to determine the presence of foreign substances or learn details of the contents as well as in the health care industry to check substances that cause differences in clinical conditions.

The DPiMS-8060 Probe Electrospray Ionization Unit can be installed on three triple quadrupole mass spectrometers: LCMS-8060, LCMS-8045, and LCMS-8050. In 2017, Shimadzu released the DPiMS-2020 Mass Spectrometer dedicated for PESI based on single quadrupole LC-MS unit. The new Probe Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometer was developed based on the highest-performance triple quadrupole LC-MS model in order to satisfy customers’ demands for using this type of instrument as a regular LC-MS unit as well as for PESI and also for high- precision analysis. This product can be used as a regular LC-MS unit by removing the dedicated unit DPiMS-8060.

* In mass spectrometry, atoms and molecules of an analyte are ionized, then their mass and quantity are measured.

Features

1. Perform Analysis Immediately with Simple Pretreatment

A micro amount of liquid of 10 pL or less is taken from a sample placed on a sample plate using a probe with a 700 nm diameter, and measurement is performed automatically.

2. Allows Monitoring Synthesis Reactions and Degradation of Substances such as Oxidation

The sample status does not change because heating is not required. Because only a small amount of the sample is taken, chronological changes on the plate can be checked.

3. Highly Resistant to Contamination

Since ionization requires only an extremely small amount of sample, a high-concentration sample rarely enters the mass spectrometer. This reduces the risk of contamination. The concentration does not need to be adjusted in advance, providing simple and quick measurement.

4. Can be Used as a Regular LC-MS Unit

This product can be used to perform both PESI and conventional LC-MS/MS analyses. The dedicated unit can be purchased separately.

 

We developed the DPiMS-2020 and DPiMS-8060 by using the technology of the system to assist in the fast diagnosis of pathologies developed with Professor Sen Takeda of the Faculty of Medicine, the University of Yamanashi, and his group members in a Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) program for the development of advanced measurement and analysis technology and systems. PESI was developed by Professor Kenzo Hiraoka of the University of Yamanashi in 2007.

 

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DPiMS-8060