This year’s 58th American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) meeting was held in Salt Lake City, Utah, from May 23 though May 27. Factoring in the Varian acquisition by Agilent that closed the week prior (see IBO 5/15/10), there were exactly the same number of exhibitors this year, 166, as in 2009. Although the number is down from the 2007 peak of 183 exhibitors, this year was among the strongest years for exhibitor participation. Attendance numbers were unavailable at the time of publication, but the meeting appeared to have strong attendance from overseas. The buzzwords of the show was clearly “qual/quan,” or qualitative/quantitative, as all of the major Q-TOF manufacturers were going to significant lengths to highlight the quantitative capabilities of their latest systems.

PerkinElmer finally officially entered the LC-MS market with its introduction of the Flexar SQ 300 single quadrupole LC-MS, which is already shipping to Gilson (see IBO 3/15/10), and is expected to begin shipping directly to customers this summer. The Flexar is based on the technology of the Analytica of Branford (AOB) business that PerkinElmer acquired last year (see IBO 5/15/09), and is designed and priced as a high-end single quadrupole instrument that can handle fast HPLC front-ends. PerkinElmer was also previewing a new ESI-TOF system, also the result of its AOB acquisition, which is expected to be officially launched near the end of this year, but is already being shipped to Abbott for incorporation into its Plex-ID system for microbial identification.

Shimadzu introduced a MALDI-TOF platform, as well as several other products at the show. The new MegaTOF is a linear MALDI-TOF that incorporates CovalX’s high-mass detector for a mass range of up to 1.5 megadaltons, and is intended for applications such as analyzing larger mass polymers, therapeutic protein aggregates and antibody characterization (see sidebar). The MegaTOF is also equipped with a standard detector for the sub-50 kDa mass range, and is priced starting at $300,000 in the US. Shimadzu was also showing its new Nexera ultra HPLC instrument that was introduced at Pittcon (see IBO 3/15/10). Also highlighted at the show was the Nanotrap Biomarker Discovery Platform, which is based on nanoparticles for the capture of low-abundance compounds, and was developed in partnership with CERES Nanosciences and Nonlinear Dynamics. Shimadzu also introduced its Component ID and ACD MS Manager software packages.

Waters introduced next generation versions of both its triple quadrupole and Q-TOF Xevo LC-MS instruments at this year’s conference. The new Xevo TQ-S triple quadrupole makes use of a new “Step Wave” dual-pressure front-end ion optics design to achieve zeptomole-level sensitivity. The Xevo Q-TOF G2 borrows the Waters’s QuanTof technology developed for the high-end Synapt model Q-TOF to achieve 40,000 FWHM resolution. The Xevo TQ-S is priced at $22,000 above the base model Xevo triple quadrupole MS, which puts it in the $450,000–$500,000 range. It should begin shipping in the third quarter. The Xevo Q-TOF G2 is priced $55,000 above the Xevo Q-TOF, putting it in the low $400,000s range, and should begin shipping by the end of June. Waters plans to continue to sell the original base models of both Xevo instruments as well.

Agilent introduced the 6490, a new addition to its 6400 series triple quadrupole LC-MS line. The model makes use of a new iFunnel dual ion funnel optics design, which helps the system achieve zeptomole-level sensitivity. The system also features a new curved, tapered collision cell, which contributes to the sensitivity gains, and reduces the unit’s footprint size by 25% compared to previous models. The 6490 will begin shipping in October, and will be priced at a premium to the other three models in the series, putting it at around the $400,000 mark. Agilent also noted that it had increased the sensitivity of its 6540 Q-TOF, improving its qual/quan capabilities. Agilent was also showing its 7000B triple quadrupole GC/MS, which was introduced last October, for the first time at ASMS. Agilent was also displaying in its hospitality suite the 5975T LTM (Low Thermal Mass) transportable GC/MS, which it had introduced at Pittcon, but will not be ready to ship until near the end of the year.

AB Sciex rolled out the Triple TOF 5600, its first completely new Q-TOF platform in a decade. The new instrument combines the same front-end inlet, ion optics and quadrupole mass analyzer as found on its top-end triple quadrupole systems with an all new TOF analyzer, which utilizes 15 kV accelerating voltage for better ion focusing. The result is a Q-TOF with 30,000 FWHM resolution and four orders of dynamic range, which the company claims has the same quantitation capabilities as many triple quadrupole instruments. The Triple TOF will replace the Q-Star product line, and will begin shipping later this summer. It is priced starting at $650,000, and includes a three-year warranty as standard.

Bruker’s major instrument introduction at the show was the autoflex speed, which replaces the autoflex III. The main improvement in the new model, which is available in linear, reflectron and TOF/TOF configurations, is the smartbeam-II 1,000 Hz laser that is an upgrade from the previous smartbeam 200 Hz laser. The autoflex speed also features the new Perpetual Ion Source, which provides self-cleaning in less than 15 minutes without breaking vacuum. The new models are priced at a $50,000 premium to the previous autoflex, although Bruker indicated that the autoflex would still be offered as a more price-effective option.

Bruker also announced improvements and additional options on other instruments. A MALDI version of its FT-MS instrument, the solariX-MI, is now available using the smartbeam-II 1,000 Hz laser for imaging of small molecule pharmaceuticals and metabolites in tissues. The company also announced that it has improved the performance of its maXis Q-TOF LC-MS to 50,000 FWHM resolution at full sensitivity, accuracy of better than 800 ppb for both MS and MS/MS, and a speed of 20 spectra/second. Also, ETD is now available on the maXis.

Thermo Fisher Scientific did not have any completely new instruments to introduce at this year’s show, but did highlight two systems that were introduced earlier this year at Pittcon, including the TSQ Quantum XLS, which is a dedicated triple quadrupole GC-MS, and the ISQ single quadrupole GC/MS. This year, Thermo focused on new software introductions, which included new versions of its Proteome Discoverer, Pinpoint and Metquest software. Proteome Discoverer now supports a wide range of labeling techniques for quantitative proteomics, such as SILAC and Cysteine-Reactive Tandem Mass Tags. Pinpoint helps to convert biomarker discovery information directly into quantitative assays for verification. Finally, Metquest is a new Drug Metabolism and Pharmcokinetics (DMPK) workflow package that takes full advantage of the performance capabilities of the Orbitrap. The company also highlighted the EASY-nLCII Nano HPLC that came from its acquisition of Proxeon in April (se IBO 4/15/10), as well as its EQuan MAX solution for the analysis of contaminants in water and beverages, which is based on the Exactive benchtop LC-MS.

JEOL introduced the SpiralTOF MALDI-TOF product line at ASMS, which is based around a revolutionary new TOF mass analyzer design. The new analyzer directs ions through a series of repeated figure-eight trajectories, which allows for an effective flight tube length of 17 m, while at the same time enabling a more compact system than conventional MALDI-TOF instruments. JEOL is now offering four models in the SpiralTOF line: a stand-alone SpiralTOF; a SpiralTOF in tandem with a reflectron TOF; a SpiralTOF in tandem with a linear TOF; and also a model with a SpiralTOF, reflectron TOF and linear TOF. JEOL’s marketing nomenclature may be somewhat confusing, as it refers to the reflectron option as “TOF-TOF.” JEOL has shipped several initial units to Japanese customers, and expects US installations to begin in October. Pricing information was unavailable.

Among other, smaller MS companies at the show, none were exhibiting new instruments for the first time. However, Zoex and 1st Detect did show instruments that had been introduced in March at Pittcon. Zoex showed its FasTOF GC/MS, which utilizes the speed of a TOF MS to handle the needs of GCxGC detection. 1st Detect was showing its handheld Miniature Chemical Detector MS. The company expects to begin shipping production models early next year, following initial shipments of benchtop beta models in December. BIOCIUS launched the RF360 High Resolution System, which pairs the company’s automated sample preparation platform with Agilent’s TOF systems for high-throughput screening of in vitro ADME assays. Software integration eliminates the need for MRM method development. A 96-well plate can be processed in approximately 15 minutes.