JMSSJ On-line

JMSSJ On-line, Vol. 51 (2003) No. 1, pp. 36-41

Miniaturized Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometers for Bioagent Detection and Identification		>> Full Text PDF >> References
*Robert J. COTTER,^a) Robert D. ENGLISH,^a) Bettina WARSCHEID,^b) Andy HARDY,^a) and Ben D. GARDNER^a)** ^*a)Middle Atlantic Mass Spectrometry Laboratory, Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (725 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MID 21205, USA) ^b)Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland (College Park, MD 20742, USA)

This paper summarizes a number of instrumental designs and configurations that have been developed by the Middle Atlantic Mass Spectrometry Laboratory for the miniaturization of time-of-flight mass spectrometers that will be used in environmental, bioagent detection, and diagnostics applications. All are "linear" designs, that is: ions are focused to a detector located within a line-of-sight of the ion source; no reflectrons are used. All are also "dynamic" instruments, using pulsed ion extraction and/or other time-dependent electric fields. These mass analyzers have flight paths of approximately 3 inches, with mass resolutions of up to one part in 1200 and mass ranges over 66 kdaltons. The use of non-homogeneous electric fields is also proposed to further improve that performance. Some examples are given for the analysis of peptides and bacterial spores.

Key words: TOF, Minimass, Bioagent, Bacteria, MALDI