The American Society of Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) held its 65^th annual conference from June 4 to June 7 at the convention center in Indianapolis, Indiana. Attendance totaled 6,338, up slightly from last year’s figure of 6,267 (see IBO 6/15/16). The 2018 ASMS conference is scheduled to occur from June 3 to June 7 in San Diego, California.

Agilent Technologies

Agilent Technologies’ signature announcement was the unveiling of the Ultivo Triple Quadrupole LC/MS. At 15.4 in wide, it is 70% smaller than Agilent’s 6460 LC/MS System, enabling it to fit perfectly underneath Agilent’s Infinity II HPLC stack. Designed for high-throughput applications for mass ranges below 1450, it is ideal for food safety and environmental analyses. The instrument is expected to ship this fall and sell for over $300,000.

Agilent also introduced the 7250 GC/Q-TOF, which features a combination of a high-resolution, accurate mass GC/MS and a low-energy ionization source, thus allowing low-energy electron ionization compound identification in complex matrices.

Bruker

Bruker showcased several new innovative software solutions. This included SCiLS Cloud, which offers web-based tools to facilitate distributed workflows, and SCiLS Lab, which provides solutions for data handling and computational analysis for Bruker MALDI imaging data sets. For life science and translational research, the company also introduced MetaboScape 3.0, its third-generation metabolomics research and validation solution that utilizes powerful data extraction with its new T-ReX 2D algorithm. In addition, the company launched Proteoform Profiling 1.0, which can be used with Bruker’s nanoElute UHPLC for cell biology and clinical proteomics research. Bruker also announced the release of TargetScreener 3.0 HR, a platform for automated screening and quantitative applications in forensic, food and environmental safety markets.

SCIEX

Like Bruker, SCIEX introduced new software, but its latest offering is aimed at applied and industrial markets. The software supports new applications for SCIEX’s SWATH acquisition technology, which for the past five years has been used only for proteomics research and allows simultaneous and comprehensive identification and quantification of compounds within a sample. SWATH now supports forensic analysis with the ability to routinely screen and quantify drugs and medications in numerous biological matrices; food testing through the reduction of false negatives and the ability to re-analyze results without needing the original sample; and environmental analysis due to reliable compound identification and quantification.

SCIEX further announced that it has developed a Vitamin D 200M assay, the first and only FDA-cleared LC/MS–based Vitamin D assay. The company decided to develop this assay since Vitamin D is an important building block and biomarker for health, and also because it is among the top five assays reimbursed by Medicare. It is designed to be used on the soon-to-be-released SCIEX Topaz LC/MS System for clinical labs. This instrument will enable clinical labs to expand their in-house testing, as well as add their own LDTs. SCIEX anticipates that the Topaz System together with its Vitamin D assay will be a door opener for hospitals and clinical labs that want to access MS.

The company also introduced advanced and routine metabolomics software for the X500R QTOF, a simplified solution for the routine core-lab MS user, allowing quantitative and qualitative data collection.

Shimadzu

At the show, Shimadzu previewed its new MALDI-8020 Benchtop MALDI-TOF MS as an extension of the company’s MALDI product portfolio. The instrument features a compact design with an integrated barcode reader and easy-to-use interface that requires minimal clicks. It is capable of fast analysis with a 200 Hz solid state laser and 90 second pump-down time. The instrument is slated for release in the fall and although a list price has not yet been set, it is estimated to be between $100,000 and $150,000.

The company also released hardware upgrades to its GCMS-TQ8050 system, as well as the nSMOL (nano-Surface and Molecular Orientation Limited proteolysis) Antibody Bio-Analysis Kit. nSMOL is a novel method of sample preparation for LC/MS bioanalysis of monoclonal antibodies in blood. It eliminates the steps of denaturing, reduction and alkylation normally associated with protein digestion, which results in more efficient sample preparation and analysis. It is also the only reagent kit that clears the guideline standards issued by the US FDA and Japan’s MHLW.

Shimadzu also announced an agreement with Québec-based Phytronix Technologies to offer the first triple ion source for Shimadzu’s LC/MS systems. The configuration is ideal for both screening and confirmation work. Able to perform analysis in less than four seconds, it is designed to improve productivity in high-throughput labs performing toxicology, drug discovery and food safety applications.

Thermo Fisher Scientific

Thermo Fisher Scientific had several new product introductions. Enhancements were introduced to its flagship product, the Orbitrap Fusion Lumos Tribrid MS. These new options include Ultraviolet Photodissociation (UVPD) that allows for large and small molecular structure determination on an LC time scale; an Advanced Peak Determination (APD) algorithm that assigns more monoisotopic peaks and charge states in complex spectra to deliver more unique peptide identifications; and 1M resolution, which resolves fine isotope structure and can separate isobaric compounds.

The company also introduced the Thermo Scientific TSQ Altis and TSQ Quantis triple quad MS systems. The TSQ Altis is a high-end instrument that offers high sensitivity, selectivity and speed, and replaces the TSQ Quantiva. It is able to perform 600 experiments per second. In contrast, the TSQ Quantis is more of a mid-range, quantitative workhorse instrument, supporting routine workflows and replacing the TSQ Endura. Reproducibility is enhanced by a new front end, optics and quadrupole system, according to the company. Ease of use was also a strong consideration in the design.

Also launched at ASMS was the Thermo Scientific Q Exactive HF-X Hybrid Quadrupole Orbitrap MS, a high-end addition to the Exactive family, featuring improved sensitivity and speed, and designed to support workflows in proteomics and metabolomics. While earlier models operate at 20 Hz, the scanning speed of this system is at 40 Hz, enabling analysis of the same results in half the time.

Thermo Fisher also announced new consumables for MS. Together with BIOCRATES Life Sciences, Thermo Fisher launched the BIOCRATES Absolute/DQ p400 HR kit for metabolic phenotyping on high-resolution MS instruments. It will be jointly promoted for use with the Thermo Fisher Q Exactive models. Also introduced was the Thermo Scientific InsuQuant Mass Spectrometric Immunoassay Kit for the insulin bioanalysis workflow.

As with other companies, software was also a part of Thermo Fisher’s product introductions. The company had several new releases for MS software and cloud-based solutions to support applications in proteomics, metabolomics, genomics research and applied markets. Among the new software announcements was a comarketing agreement with Biognosys to provide a comprehensive, efficient workflow to enable library creation and data processing for data-independent acquisition studies through the combined use of Orbitrap MS systems, including the Thermo Scientific Q Exactive HF-X Hybrid Quadrupole Orbitrap MS, and Biognosys’ Spectronaut Pulsar software.

Waters

Waters introduced LiveID Software for food authenticity analysis on its Xevo G2-XS and SYNAPT G2-Si quadrupole TOF MS systems. It also announced a new version of its Progenesis Qi P software, which supports proteomics and metabolomics workflows, as well as SONAR, a recently introduced data-independent acquisition mode for Waters’ high-resolution MS instruments. The new version will be available in July.

Waters also announced two collaboration agreements. It will make available IonSense’s open-air DART ionization source as an option for its ACQUITY QDa Mass Detector. DART requires little to no sample preparation and can detect substances on a variety of surfaces, including human skin, vegetables and fruit, and clothing. The addition is expected to broaden the applications for the ACQUITY QDa. Under a comarketing agreement with Andrew Alliance, Waters will combine its Glycoworks RapiFluor-MS N-Glycan Kit for glycosylation profiling with Andrew Alliances’ Andrew pipetting robot for semi-automated sample preparation.