The ORNL-developed technologies, including an open port sampling probe, make it easier for non-experts to take advantage of mass spectrometry.
The agreement will help SCIEX expand mass spectrometry adoption to applications outside the laboratory, such as process control; materials science, food and water safety; and non-invasive, point-of-care disease diagnosis.
Tom Covey, SCIEX principal research scientist, said mass spectrometry is ideal for applications that require routine, rapid, highly simplified analyses, if the equipment could be simplified and made more rugged.
"What has remained elusive to make this transition a reality, is the development of simplified, reliable, and universal techniques for transferring these types of samples from the world outside the laboratory into the mass spectrometer,” he said.
"It is our opinion that the open port probe technologies developed at ORNL are the missing link to solve this difficult problem.”
Researchers led by ORNL's Gary Van Berkel and Vilmos Kertesz have collaborated with SCIEX scientific staff under a cooperative research and development agreement since 1997.