SCIEX Systems Advance Lab Analytics

The latest additions to SCIEX’s portfolio help improve laboratory workflows and data acquisition.

Combined system for quantification and data acquisition

The SCIEX Triple Quad 5500+ LC–MS/MS System–QTRAP Ready couples triple quadrupole sensitivity and QTRAP functionality in a single system to deliver higher data confidence from the same sample. The QTRAP functionality can be implemented at any time by activating a field upgradable license, allowing users to future-proof their labs.

According to the company, combining these two instruments was the product of customer feedback that expressed the need for an instrument with increased efficiency and dynamic range. While the triple quadrupole provides efficient quantification, the QTRAP functionality adds depth to data quality with the Linear Ion Trap.

Key features of the combined system include:

• Increased polarity switching time: offers increased efficiency of positive and negative ion analysis in the same acquisition-with 5 msec in multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) and scheduled MRM-and analyzes more analytes in a single run without compromising data quality.

• Linear dynamic range of up to six orders: produces highly precise, quantified data to see low-level trace detection through to excessively abundant analytes in any application

• QTRAP functionality: 12,000 Da/sec enables speedy qualitative confirmation of crucial analytes in parallel with MRM quantitative data.

Echo MS for high-throughput quantification

The Acoustic Ejection Mass Spectrometry (AEMS) technology for high-throughput quantification enables improved sample analysis and incorporates open-port interface and acoustic droplet ejection functions. The new AEMS technology is expected to be marketed as Echo MS. The company reports that in in early testing, AEMS technology can reduce screening times from 115 days to 4 days for one million compounds.

Additional achievements of AEMS technology include:

• Up to 50 times faster sample analysis, delivering rich data sets and reducing the risk of missing lead compounds

• Accelerated speed of analysis, capable of up to three samples per second-180 samples/min, 11,000 samples/hour, and 260,000 samples/day

• Low coefficient of variability quantification (5–8%), leading to high reproducibility regardless of the matrix

• Sample analysis direct from the plate with no liquid chromatography (LC) required to eliminate carry-over and errors

Mass system for precise large-scale quantification

The TripleTOF 6600+ LC–MS/MS System, Scanning SWATH Acquisition, and data processing system OneOmics in SCIEX Cloud together enable precise large-scale quantification for the discovery of new biomarkers in clinical research.

The TripleTOF 6600+ LC-MS/MS System is the latest addition to the TripleTOF portfolio and is built for large-scale precise quantification and flexible use. The instrument incorporates simplified low-flow source technology to deliver accessible, sensitive, and robust quantification, while multiple software-enabled improvements increase robustness and maximize system uptime. 

The key features of the TripleTOF 6600+ LC–MS/MS System include:

• OptiFlow Turbo V Source: as a single source for all low-flow applications with flow rates of 100 nL/min–200 μL/min, the OptiFlow Turbo V Source enables long-term operations to study large sample cohorts

• Up to 100 Hz MS/MS scan speeds: delivers unique qualitative and quantitative capabilities, from fast targeted quantification (MRMHR) to highly multiplexed data-dependent (DDA) and data-independent methods (SWATH)

• Analyst TF Software 1.8: Scheduled ionization and target total ion current function give the user temporal control over the number of ions entering the system, eliminating the acquisition of unwanted data and maximizing system uptime.

The Scanning SWATH Acquisition is hosted on the TripleTOF 6600+ system. The Scanning SWATH preserves a sample by creating a digital data record of all detectable analytes, capturing more detail about potential markers than its predecessor, according to the company. Using a sliding Q1 window scanned across the mass range, Scanning SWATH produces four-dimensional data where the correlation between fragment and precursor reportedly provide better confidence. With more information, users can quantify and characterize species that would have previously been inaccessible, as stated by the company.

“The TripleTOF 6600+ with Scanning SWATH retains the sensitivity and data quality we have come to expect, but adds the fast scanning capability that is critical for the next generation of proteomic applications that we have increasingly become dependent on,” said Markus Ralser, senior group leader, Molecular Biology of Metabolism Laboratory, the Francis Crick Institute, London, and director of Biochemistry, at the Charité, Berlin, in a June 3, 2019 press release.

SCIEX also added a new generation of OneOmics now integrated into SCIEX Cloud. Users can share and optuimize their SWATH approach by integrating their data into a cloud-based environment to efficiently translate big data generated from proteomics, metabolomics, and genomics approaches into meaningful biological results.

“Industrializing omics has been a big focus of ours over the last few years, and the TripleTOF 6600+ System with OneOmics provides a powerful solution that will scale with today’s larger studies,” said Christie Hunter, director of applications, SCIEX, in the release. “I am especially thrilled about this next chapter in the evolution of SWATH, with Scanning SWATH Acquisition, and look forward to working with researchers to progress this innovation.”

The company showcased these innovations at ASMS 2019 on June 2–6, 2018 in Atlanta, GA.

Source: SCIEX