Microconstants has completed the installation and qualification of a Xevo TQ-S tandem mass spectrometer from Waters, which uses the latest LC/MS/MS technology to improve sensitivity in bioanalytics.
The high speed, sensitivity and accuracy of this LC/MS/MS system will allow Microconstants to quantify compounds at lower concentrations than previously possible and enable the development of more robust bioanalytical methods, for even the most analytically complex compounds.
The Xevo TQ-S tandem mass spectrometer was released in September 2010 and the LC/MS/MS system further increases the sensitivity provided by the previous model, the Xevo TQ MS, which Microconstants acquired last June.
The addition of this new system brings Microconstants equipment count to a total of 16 LC/MS/MS systems at their San Diego bioanalytical laboratory.
When compared to earlier-generation mass spectrometer models, Microconstants experienced a forty-fold increase in sensitivity with compounds tested internally in negative electrospray ionisation mode.
The increase in sensitivity can be attributed primarily to the system's new Stepwave ion-transfer technology.
This off-axis design increases the efficiency of ion transfer from the ion source to the quadrupole MS analyser, while at the same time, actively eliminating undesirable neutral contaminants.
