Shimadzu expects ‘considerable and rapid’ LC/MS/MS growth
The LCMS-8060 made its debut at the American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) Conference on Mass Spectrometry and Allied Topics.
The firm said it detects substances at ultra-trace level or in small sample concentrations which have to be diluted to avoid matrix effects.
It added high sensitivity is required in food analysis, so the LCMS-8060 is of general use and will have a meaningful impact in the environmental and food safety field.
Proprietary technologies allow acquisition of up to 555 Multiple Reaction Monitoring (MRM) channels per second, fast polarity switching and scanning, with high data quality.
Sensitivity and speed level
Stephane Moreau, Shimadzu Europa, product manager MS and Life Sciences, told FoodQualityNews that the machine is expected to make a meaningful difference to the sector helping it grow the LC-MS/MS business further.
“In 2010, Shimadzu launched its first triple quadrupole mass spectrometer, the LCMS-8030,” he said.
“Inspired by the need to balance advanced high speed MS/MS detection technologies with unrivalled LC performance, we were the first mass spectrometry company in the world to deliver a scan speed of 15,000u/sec and a polarity switching speed of 15msec in LC/MS/MS detection.
“At ASMS 2015 we launched the LCMS-8060 with a scan speed of 30,000u/sec, a polarity switching time of 5msec and the highest specification of sensitivity.”
The machine is part of the Shimadzu mass spectrometry platform of MS/MS systems.
The system combines a heated ESI source with UF technologies including UFsweeper III, a collision cell filled with argon gas.
Through its high speed technology, UFsweeper III achieves dwell times of 0.8 ms per MRM.
With UF Qarray ion guide technology increasing ion production and signal intensity but suppresses noise, the LCMS-8060 is sensitive and makes a difference to working, said Shimadzu.
Sample prep strategy
Techniques like ‘Dilute and shoot’ as well as lower detection limits will need such sensitivity.
“Dilute and shoot’ is a simple sample preparation strategy which is widely used in diverse range of applications,” said Moreau.
“By diluting the sample and injecting directly onto the LC-MS/MS this approach delivers a rapid sample preparation strategy whilst minimizing the matrix effects. This technique has gained acceptance as LC-MS/MS systems have become more sensitive.
“Diluting the matrix reduces the signal intensity of the target compounds but more importantly this approach also markedly reduces matrix interferences.
“The principle advantage of ‘dilute and shoot’ is that it is very quick and can be used by all users. As LC-MS/MS systems are specific and sensitive detection systems this technique can be applied to ultra-trace level analysis in routine quantitative analysis.”
Quantitative detection
By redefining ion focusing capability on the UF Qarray, the LCMS-8060 has an impact on quantitative detection and opens opportunities for scientists to make a true difference.
Built on the platform of the LCMS-8050, the patented ion guides developed for the LCMS-8060 improves ion production and collisional focusing without affecting noise or robustness, said the firm.
Delivering the maximum amount of information in a short time involves an approach to the design of LC-MS/MS technologies. By rethinking data quality Shimadzu said it has developed a methodology to detect and quantify a wide variety of compound classes, said Moreau.
“This approach has led to the development of fast scanning capabilities delivering a scan speed of 30,000u/sec which opens up new possibilities for detecting multi analyte assays in complex matrices," he said.
“We can now acquire more data points across a peak and by switching the polarity between positive and negative ionisation within 5msecs we can also detect more compound classes.
“This approach enables us to quantitate more compounds by MRM during each MS scan so that optimized sampling and consistent accurate quantitation is delivered.
“A dwell time of 0.8msecs (the time required for the triple quad to analyse a single MRM transition) also ensures that the data quality is not compromised as we acquire data on a wide range of compounds in complex matrices.”
