BRUKER DALTONIK GMBH Patent applications |
Patent application number | Title | Published |
20150357172 | DEPOSITION AID FOR THE MANUAL DEPOSITION OF MASS SPECTROMETRIC SAMPLES - The invention concerns the reduction of the risk of an incorrect assignment of samples to sample sites during the manual deposition of samples for ionization by laser desorption (for example MALDI or LDCI). The invention offers a method wherein a sample support with several sample sites is provided, at least one sample site is selected, and the selected sample site is highlighted, at least in contrast to neighboring not selected sample sites, in a way which the human eye can perceive. | 12-10-2015 |
20140175273 | METHOD FOR THE DETECTION OF INCORRECT DEPOSITION ON A MALDI SAMPLE SUPPORT - The invention relates to a method for the detection of incorrect deposition on a MALDI sample support with several separate sample sites, where after the preparation on the sample support, an area located between two sample sites is sampled with a desorption laser, and a signal of an ion detector in a mass spectrometer is acquired in temporal relation to the sampling. The signal is examined for the presence of a signal which indicates incorrect deposition. An advantage of the method is particularly that it can be carried out using a MALDI ion source and a connected mass analyzer, and that it requires little procedural effort. | 06-26-2014 |
20140106396 | MASS SPECTROMETRIC MEASUREMENT OF MICROBIAL RESISTANCES - Microorganisms, particularly bacteria, are identified and characterized on the basis of a mass spectrometric measurement of their protein profiles with ionization by matrix-assisted laser desorption. In order to measure the microbial resistance to antibiotics, the protein profiles of microorganisms are measured after cultivation for a short time duration in nutrient media containing the antibiotics. | 04-17-2014 |
20140061458 | EXCITATION OF IONS IN AN ICR-CELL WITH STRUCTURED TRAPPING ELECTRODES - In an ion cyclotron resonance cell, which is enclosed at its ends by electrode structure elements with DC voltages of alternating polarity, longitudinal electrodes are divided so that the ICR measurement cell between the electrode structure elements consists of at least three sections. An excitation of ion cyclotron motions can be performed by applying additional trapping voltages to longitudinal electrodes located closest to the electrode structure elements and introducing ions into the center set of longitudinal electrodes. The ions are then excited into cyclotron orbits by applying radiofrequency excitation pulses to at least two rows of longitudinal electrodes to produce orbiting ion clouds. Subsequently, the additional trapping voltages are removed and an ion-attracting DC voltage is superimposed on the DC voltages. Ions excited to circular orbits can be detected using detection electrodes in the outer ICR cell sections. | 03-06-2014 |
20130323406 | IMAGE PROJECTION METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SUPPORTING MANUAL MALDI SAMPLE PREPARATION - An improved deposition aid for manual sample preparation, particularly on flat MALDI sample supports, comprises a holder for a sample support with several sample sites, which is adapted to standardized sample supports for ionization with matrix-assisted laser desorption and a device which projects a two-dimensional optical image, or a suitable sequence of images, onto the sample sites. The image, or sequence of images, is constructed such that a selected sample site or group of selected sample sites is highlighted in a way which can be perceived by the human eye, at least with respect to neighboring, not-selected sample sites. The deposition aid also includes an interface for confirming the manual deposition and/or a device for the automatic detection of a manual deposition process; and a guidance system which selects a sample site or group of sample sites, and controls the device accordingly. | 12-05-2013 |
20130302847 | METHOD AND SAMPLE SUPPORT TO ASSIST THE MANUAL PREPARATION OF SAMPLES FOR IONIZATION WITH MATRIX-ASSISTED LASER DESORPTION - The invention relates to a method to assist with the manual preparation of a sample support for ionization with matrix-assisted laser desorption where a sample support with sample sites is provided, a selected sample site is highlighted in a way which can be perceived by the human eye at least with respect to neighboring, not selected sample sites, a sample is manually deposited on the selected and highlighted sample site, and the deposition state of at least the selected and highlighted sample site is determined. The method enables the sample preparation and sample analysis to be made more efficient and more certain. | 11-14-2013 |
20130285552 | ION GENERATION IN MASS SPECTROMETERS BY CLUSTER BOMBARDMENT - The invention relates to devices and methods in mass spectrometers for the generation of ions of heavy molecules, especially biomolecules, by bombarding them with uncharged clusters of molecules. The analyte ions which are generated or released by cluster bombardment of analyte substances on the surface of sample support plates show a broad distribution of their kinetic energies, which prevents good ion-optical focusing. In the invention, the kinetic energies are homogenized in a higher-density collision gas. The collision gas is preferably located in an RF ion guide, more preferably an RF ion funnel, which can transfer the ions to the mass analyzer. The collision gas may be introduced with temporal pulsing, coordinated or synchronized with the pulsed supersonic gas jet. The collision gas may be pumped off again before the next supersonic gas pulse. In an advantageous embodiment, the collision gas can originate from the supersonic gas jet itself. | 10-31-2013 |
20130189728 | Identification of pathogens in body fluids - Identification of infectious pathogens, particularly viruses, bacteria and other microorganisms is effected with a method whereby pathogens of acute infections can be identified, without first culturing them in external nutrient media, by mass spectrometric measurement of their protein profiles obtained from pathogens directly precipitated from body fluid into pellets by centrifuging. With this method, pathogens which cause acute infections can be identified in less than one hour. | 07-25-2013 |
20130164174 | RADICAL IONS FOR ELECTRON TRANSFER DISSOCIATION - Radical anions for use in the fragmentation of positively charged biopolymer ions by means of electron transfer are produced from substances previously unknown for use as ETD production substances. The inventive substances produce radical anions that lead to electron transfer dissociations with a high yield of fragment ions. The substances have high volatility that allows them to be kept in unheated containers outside the vacuum system and transported into the vacuum system to an in vacuum electron attachment ion source via unheated lines and low molecular weights that allow the measurement of even very light fragment ions. In one embodiment, a suitable substance is 1-3-5-7-cyclooctatetraene. | 06-27-2013 |
20130146761 | INTRODUCTION OF IONS INTO KINGDON ION TRAPS - The geometry of a Kingdon ion trap, in which harmonic ion oscillation in a potential well in a longitudinal direction is completely decoupled from ion oscillation in a direction transverse to the longitudinal direction, is arranged so that the oscillating ions introduced through the entrance tube cannot return to the entrance tube until they have performed several longitudinal oscillations during which time heavier ions can be introduced into the trap. In one embodiment, ions enter the trap via an entrance tube extending through, but electrically insulated from, one of the Kingdon trap housing electrodes and located outside the minimum of the potential well in the longitudinal direction. | 06-13-2013 |
20130115711 | REACTANTS FOR CHARGE TRANSFER REACTIONS IN MASS SPECTROMETERS - The invention relates to the use of substances for the production of anions suitable for charge transfer reactions in mass spectrometers, particularly for the fragmentation of multiply positively charged biopolymer ions by electron transfer or for charge reduction by proton transfer. Diketones, particularly α-diketones, are proposed as a newly found class of substances which can be used both for the production of radical anions for electron transfer dissociations (ETD) with a high yield of fragment ions and also for the production of non-radical anions for the charge reduction of multiply charged analyte ions by proton transfer reactions (PTR). These substances have favorable properties in terms of their handling and the associated analytical methods: they are largely nontoxic, cover a favorable range of molecular masses, and their volatility means that they can be stored in unheated containers outside of the vacuum system, which facilitates the refilling of the containers. | 05-09-2013 |
20130112863 | GENERATION OF HARMONICS IN OSCILLATION MASS SPECTROMETERS - The invention relates to measuring cells and measuring methods in oscillation mass spectrometers in which clouds of the same species of ion oscillate harmonically in a potential well in a longitudinal direction, decoupled from their motion transverse to this direction. A frequency analysis of the longitudinal oscillations of these ion clouds, which is carried out by a Fourier analysis of the induced image currents between two detection electrodes, leads to frequency spectra of the ions and hence to mass spectra. The position of the ion trajectories relative to the detection electrodes and the design of the measuring cells in the oscillation mass spectrometers is used to generate large proportions of harmonics in the image currents, and evaluate the frequency signals of the harmonics. The frequency signals of these harmonics have a higher resolution in the frequency spectrum (and hence in the mass spectrum), and allow resolution of the signals from ionic species of very similar mass which are not resolved in the fundamental oscillation. The accuracy of the mass determination increases proportionally | 05-09-2013 |
20130099112 | MASS SPECTROMETER WITH MALDI LASER SYSTEM - The invention relates to a mass spectrometer comprising a laser system for mass-spectrometric analyses with ionization of analyte molecules in a sample by matrix-assisted laser desorption. A mass spectrometer with a pulsed UV laser system produces a spatially distributed spot pattern with peaks of uniform energy density on the sample, increasing thereby the degree of ionization for analyte ions as compared to conventional spot patterns. The spot pattern with peaks of uniform energy density can be produced by homogeneous illumination of a pattern generator, for example a lens array. The homogeneous illumination can be generated by a low-cost beam-shaping element, which does not act on the UV beam but on the original infrared beam, in conjunction with changes to the beam cross-section and beam profile brought about by the nonlinear conversion crystals. This beam shaping not only produces a beam profile which illuminates the pattern generator homogeneously with low losses, but at the same time increases the efficiency of the frequency multiplication and the lifetime of the conversion crystals so that cost savings are achieved because less laser energy is required and the lifetime is increased. | 04-25-2013 |
20130075602 | MASS SPECTROMETRIC ION STORAGE DEVICE FOR DIFFERENT MASS RANGES - The invention relates to devices and methods for the storage of ions in mass spectrometers. The invention proposes the generation and superposition of two multipole fields of different order, independent of each other, in an RF multipole rod system. In an embodiment with eight pole rods, for example, it is thus possible to jointly store low-energy electrons in a central RF quadrupole field, which effectively acts only on electrons and holds them together radially, on the one hand, and multiply charged heavy positive ions in an RF octopole field, which effectively acts only on the ions, on the other hand, in order to fragment the positive ions by electron capture dissociation (ECD). In a different embodiment, multiply charged positive analyte ions and suitable negative reactant ions can react with each other in an octopole field by electron transfer dissociation (ETD) with a high fragmentation yield, and the fragment ions can subsequently be bundled by a transition to a quadrupole field to form a fine ion beam, which can leave the multipole rod system axially. A mixture of hexapole and dodecapole systems is also possible. | 03-28-2013 |
20130037711 | INTRODUCTION OF IONS INTO ELECTROSTATIC ION TRAPS - Ions are introduced into a Kingdon ion trap in which the ions can oscillate harmonically in a potential well in the longitudinal direction, essentially decoupled from their transverse motion by a Kingdon ion guide, which can consist of a drill-hole through the wall of the ion trap housing electrodes and a central wire. An injection potential is first applied to the wire, but once the heaviest ions of interest have been injected into the trap, the potential of the wire is switched to the potential of the housing electrodes, to trap the ions in the trap. The ions introduced into the Kingdon ion trap may come from a small ion cloud, located in a Paul trap. | 02-14-2013 |
20120309027 | QUANTITATIVE PEPTIDE ANALYSIS BY MASS SPECTROMETRY - A method for determining the concentration ratio in a sample of a target peptide to a reference peptide that is chemically identical with the target peptide, but labeled by isotopes, acquires mass spectra of the target and reference peptides. One of a plurality of families of superimposed bell-shaped curves which is a best fit to ion current peak groups of the target and reference peptides in the mass spectra is determined by varying parameters of the families. In each family, each bell-shaped curve has a predetermined height, the curves have fixed distances from each other and the relative curve heights and curve distances in the families are individually calculated from an elemental composition of the peptides and an isotope abundance distribution of elements composing the peptides, taking into account purity of the isotopes. The concentration ratio is then determined from the parameters of the best fit. | 12-06-2012 |
20120286156 | SELECTIVE ION MOBILITY SPECTROMETER - Ions with a predetermined ion mobility range are produced by filtering ions entrained in a stream of moving gas with two ion mobility low pass filters located consecutively in the gas stream. Each filter is formed by applying a DC electric field to the gas stream which causes the ions to move in a direction opposite to the gas flow. Ions are collected between the two filters and transferred to a detector or analyzing device. In one embodiment, the maximum field strength of the electric field barrier in the first ion mobility low pass filter is continued as a plateau of essentially constant field strength up to the electric field barrier in the second ion mobility low pass filter, which has a maximum field strength higher that the maximum field strength of the electric field barrier in the first ion mobility low pass filter. | 11-15-2012 |
20120286150 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TRANSMITTING IONS IN A MASS SPECTROMETER MAINTAINED IN A SUB-ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE REGIME - A method and apparatus for transmitting ions in a mass spectrometer from an ion source to a mass analyzer extracts analyte ions from the ion source in such a manner that the number of extracted analyte ions is maximized. The ions are then transmitted through an ion guide to the mass analyzer. The ion guide is filled with an interaction gas and its operating parameters are adjusted so that, as the ions pass through the ion guide, the analyte ion energy distribution width is narrowed and the analyte ions are collimated within the ion guide to improve the resolution and sensitivity of the mass analyzer. | 11-15-2012 |
20120273674 | Resolution Enhancement For Ion Mobility Spectrometers - In an ion mobility spectrometer in which a gas pushes ions along a spectrometer axis against and over an electrical field barrier, the electric field barrier is generated with a plateau of slightly increasing height along the axis of the spectrometer. Alternately, the electric filed barrier may have a plateau with constant height, but the gas flow decreases in velocity along the axis of the spectrometer in the vicinity of the plateau. | 11-01-2012 |
20120273673 | Selective Ion Mobility Spectrometer - Ions with a predetermined range of ion mobilities are produced by filtering input ions with at least two consecutive ion mobility high pass and/or low pass filters. Each ion mobility filter is formed by entraining ions in a moving gas and applying a DC electric field to the ions which causes the ions to move in a direction opposite to the gas flow. An ion mobility high pass filter is formed when the DC electric field drives the ions against the flow of gas, whereas an ion mobility low pass filter is formed when a the gas flow drives entrained ions against an DC electric field barrier. | 11-01-2012 |
20120273670 | Spectrum Acquisition Modes For Ion Mobility Spectrometers Using Trapped Ions - In an ion mobility spectrometer in which a gas flows through a gas-tight tube with a radially quadrupolar RF field therein and blows ions against a DC electric field barrier, a mobility scan with a mobility scale that is linear in time is obtained by holding the height of the DC electric field barrier constant while changing the pressure and temperature conditions of the flowing gas. Alternatively, the mobility scan is performed by holding the pressure and temperature conditions of the flowing gas constant and reducing the height of the DC electric field barrier non-linearly with respect to time. | 11-01-2012 |
20120264162 | MASS SPECTROMETRIC MEASUREMENT OF MICROBIAL RESISTANCES - Microorganisms, particularly bacteria, are identified and characterized on the basis of a mass spectrometric measurement of their protein profiles with ionization by matrix-assisted laser desorption. In order to measure the microbial resistance to antibiotics, the protein profiles of microorganisms are measured after cultivation for a short time duration in nutrient media containing the antibiotics. | 10-18-2012 |
20120228492 | UTILIZING GAS FLOWS IN MASS SPECTROMETERS - The invention relates to ions guided by gas flows in mass spectrometers, particularly in RF multipole systems, and to RF quadrupole mass filters and their operation with gas flows in tandem mass spectrometers. The invention provides a tandem mass spectrometer in which the RF quadrupole mass filter is operated at vacuum pressures in the medium vacuum pressure regime, utilizing a gas flow to drive the ions are through the mass filter. Vacuum pressures between 0.5 to 10 pascal are maintained in the mass filter. The mass filter may be enclosed by a narrow enclosure to guide the gas flow. The quadrupole mass filter may be followed by an RF multipole system, operated at the same vacuum pressure, serving as fragmentation cell to fragment the selected parent ions. The fragmentation cell may be enclosed by the same enclosure which already encloses the mass filter, so the ions may be driven by the same gas flow at the same vacuum pressure, greatly simplifying the required vacuum pumping system in tandem mass spectrometers. There are many other applications utilizing gas flows including supersonic gas jets in mass spectrometry. | 09-13-2012 |
20120223222 | ISOLATION OF IONS IN OVERLOADED RF ION TRAPS - In an RF quadrupole ion trap having electrodes to which RF voltages are applied, ions having m/z ratios outside of a predefined narrow range of charge-related masses m/z are removed from the trap by applying a DC voltage pulse to at least one of the trap electrodes to remove from the trap the ions with high values of charge-related masses. The DC voltage pulse is preferably applied in combination with a variation of the RF voltage amplitudes to simultaneously remove from the trap ions of low charge-related masses. The DC and RF voltage amplitudes are changed in such a manner that any excitation of ions having charge-related masses within the predefined range by frequency mixtures is avoided. | 09-06-2012 |
20120193529 | ION CYCLOTRON RESONANCE MEASURING CELLS WITH HARMONIC TRAPPING POTENTIAL - The invention relates to devices and methods for the acquisition of mass spectra with very high mass resolution in ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometers and methods to produce the devices. The invention presents cylindrical ICR measuring cells with special electrode geometries to generate harmonic trapping potentials for orbiting ions up to the walls of the cell. Only a single DC trapping voltage has to be applied to create the harmonic trapping potential distribution. The sheath of the cylindrical cell is divided by longitudinal gaps into a multitude of sheath electrodes, which either have to carry layers with resistance profiles able to generate parabolic voltage profiles along the sheath electrodes, or which form sheath electrodes of varying width by parabolic gaps, able to create complicated potential distributions which are harmonic on average for orbiting ions. Orbiting ions of a given mass m/z can oscillate harmonically in axial direction with exactly the same oscillation frequency, independent of the radius of their orbit and of their axial oscillation amplitude. Ideally, the cylinders are closed by endcaps with rotationally hyperbolic form, divided into partial electrodes like in infinity cells. The ions can then be excited to their cyclotron motions by dipolar excitation fields also uniformly filling the ICR cell up to the endcaps. The ion clouds orbiting on their cyclotron trajectory are kept together for much longer periods than was possible hitherto, even if they orbit near the sheath electrodes. The image currents thus give rise to minute-long transients, from which mass spectra with ultrahigh mass resolution can be obtained. | 08-02-2012 |
20120181423 | KINGDON ION TRAPS WITH HIGHER-ORDER CASSINI POTENTIALS - An electrostatic Kingdon ion trap in which ions can oscillate harmonically in the longitudinal direction, decoupled from their motions in the transverse direction is formed from at least three inner electrodes located inside a hollow outer housing electrode. The inner surface of the housing electrode and the outer surfaces of the inner electrodes are formed so that when a potential is applied between the housing and the inner electrodes, the potential distribution inside the housing contains not only a term for a harmonic potential well in the axial direction, but also a term for the potential distribution in the radial direction, that contains, independent of the axial coordinate, the equations for a family of Cassini curves of at least the third order. | 07-19-2012 |
20120156707 | PROTEOME ANALYSIS IN MASS SPECTROMETERS CONTAINING RF ION TRAPS - A complex protein mixture is analyzed by jointly digesting the mixture, separating the digest peptides chromatographically or electrophoretically, and ionizing the digest peptides eluting from the separation device by an ionizing method that generates multiply charged ions. Digest peptide ions within a pre-selected range of m/z-values are isolated in an RF ion trap and subsequently reduced in their charge state. The charge-reduced ions can be measured with very high sensitivity. By repeating this process with adjacent isolation mass windows within the time duration of each separation peak, it is possible to determine the masses m, the prevalent charge states z, the retention times t, and the intensities i of a huge number of digest peptides of the complex protein mixture in a single separation run. | 06-21-2012 |
20120152041 | SAMPLE PREPARATION FOR IONIZATION WITH MATRIX-ASSISTED LASER DESORPTION - A simplified sample preparation on a sample support for ionization with laser desorption (MALDI or LDCI, for example) includes depositing an analyte material onto a deposition site, providing a sample site which is intended as the substrate for a matrix crystal layer at a distance from the deposition site, and establishing a liquid communication between the deposition site and the sample site. A device for the preparation of samples for ionization with matrix-assisted laser desorption, and a sample support for use with the inventive method are also disclosed. | 06-21-2012 |
20120129201 | MASS SPECTROMETRY IMAGING WITH SUBSTANCE IDENTIFICATION - A method for the identification and localization of proteins or other biomolecules of a histologic tissue section comprises enzymatically digesting the biomolecules of two similar tissue sections while substantially preserving the biomolecule positions in the tissue sections. Next, a mass spectrometric image of the digest products in one of the tissue sections is acquired. Then, the digest products of the other tissue section are extracted and separated and the mass spectra and daughter ion spectra of all the digest products are acquired. A list of all identifiable biomolecules of the tissue section is created by comparing the mass spectra and daughter ion spectra with spectra in biomolecule structure databases or spectral libraries. Finally, the biomolecules in the list are assigned to digest products of the same mass in the mass spectra used to create the mass spectrometric image of the thin tissue section. | 05-24-2012 |
20120074303 | CALIBRATION FUNCTION FOR TIME-OF-FLIGHT MASS SPECTROMETERS WITH EXTREME MASS ACCURACY - A calibration function for time-of-flight mass spectrometers that converts ion times of flight into mass to charge ratios, takes into account not only the time of flight of a specific ionic species, but also the ion signal intensity of that ionic species. Use of the conversion function reduces nonsystematic deviations of the calculated mass values from the true mass values previously experienced in time of flight mass spectrometers. | 03-29-2012 |
20120016598 | NORMALIZATION OF MASS SPECTRA ACQUIRED BY MASS SPECTROMETRIC IMAGING - Mass spectra acquired by imaging mass spectrometry (IMS), in particular MALDI imaging of tissue sections, are each normalized by one of: the p-norm of the mass spectrum transformed by applying an exclusion list, the p-norm of the mass spectrum transformed by square rooting the intensity values, the median of the mass spectrum, and the median absolute deviation of the noise level of the mass spectrum. | 01-19-2012 |
20110284738 | CONFINING POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE IONS IN A LINEAR RF ION TRAP - In a linear ion trap, ions with two polarities are confined radially via an RF potential between the rods comprising the trap. Axially, ions of at least one polarity are confined via DC potentials applied to the elements of the trap or electrodes at the ends of the trap whereas ions of the other polarity are axially confined by a combination of pseudopotentials and/or DC potentials. | 11-24-2011 |
20110280455 | Determination of Tissue States by Imaging Mass Spectrometry - Spatially resolved tissue states (status image) are determined from spectrally resolved mass spectra of a tissue section by (a) acquiring a plurality of spatially resolved mass spectra of the tissue section, (b) generating at least two mass images from the spatially resolved mass spectra, (c) smoothing the mass images using an edge-preserving smoothing algorithm and (d) calculating a status image from the smoothed mass images by means of a classification algorithm derived from mathematical statistics. | 11-17-2011 |
20110202282 | Multi-Stage Search for Microbe Mass Spectra in Reference Libraries - Microbes in a sample are identified by calculating similarities between a mass spectrum of the sample and reference mass spectra in a spectral library. The spectral library is divided into a hierarchy of sub-libraries where each sub-library contains reference mass spectra of microbes which are statistically the most prevalent in the samples, but are not included in other sub-libraries and all additional reference mass spectra in the library that have substantial similarity to the reference mass spectra of these microbes. Only if the search in a sub-library does not provide a hit with sufficient certainty of identification, is the search carried out in sub-libraries of higher stages. | 08-18-2011 |
20110139977 | MATRIX-ASSISTED LASER DESORPTION WITH HIGH IONIZATION YIELD - Analyte ions are generated in an ion source by matrix-assisted laser desorption (MALDI) in which laser light pulses have significantly less than one nanosecond duration, focal diameters of less than twenty micrometers and energy densities such that only about one picogram of sample is desorbed per pulse of laser light and per laser spot. An unexpectedly high degree of ionization of analyte molecules is produced for selected matrix substances. Many laser spots can be generated side-by-side from a single laser light pulse for use with MALDI time-of-flight mass spectrometers. Applying pulses with a repetition rate of around 50 kilohertz and moving the sample or guiding the laser light beam so each laser light pulse impinges on a cool sample spot allows the ion source to be used with spectrometers that require a constant ion current. | 06-16-2011 |
20110139976 | Method for operating three-dimensional RF ion traps with high ion capture efficiency - In a three-dimensional Paul RF ion trap the ring electrode and end cap electrodes are formed from pairs of pole rods. This multipole rod system is then operated as a linear ion trap with a constant field distribution along the multipole rod system. While the system is operating as a linear ion trap, analyte ions are introduced and stored within the linear ion trap. After the ions have been stored, a single-phase RF voltage is supplied to all rods of a middle segment thus forming a three-dimensional ion trap, thereby collecting the ions in a spherical cloud within this middle segment. The collected analyte ions can then be reacted in the three-dimensional ion trap and the product ions resulting from the reactions can be ejected for mass analysis. | 06-16-2011 |
20110127424 | COLLISION-INDUCED DECOMPOSITION OF IONS IN RF ION TRAPS - In an RF ion trap, analyte ions are fragmented by applying a moderately high RF storage voltage to the trap. The ions are then excited via dipolar excitation, and after a short time, the ions are forced into a resting state, again using dipolar excitation. The RF storage voltage is then rapidly reduced to a low value thereby making it possible to store small fragment ions produced by ergodic decompositions that occur subsequent to the reduction of the RF storage voltage. | 06-02-2011 |
20110042562 | MASS SPECTROMETER WITH AN ELECTROSTATIC ION TRAP - In a mass spectrometer with an electrostatic ion trap, the electrostatic ion trap has an outer electrode with an ion-repelling electric potential applied to it and a plurality of inner electrodes with ion-attracting potentials applied to each inner electrode. The outer electrode and the inner electrodes are shaped and arranged in such a way that a harmonic electric potential is formed in one spatial direction and, perpendicular to this spatial direction, an electric potential is formed in which ions move in stable, radial trajectories. | 02-24-2011 |
20110039350 | HIGH YIELD ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE ION SOURCE FOR ION SPECTROMETERS IN VACUUM - Gaseous analyte molecules are ionized at atmospheric pressure and provided to an inlet capillary of an ion spectrometer vacuum system by passing the ions through a reaction tube that ends in a conical intermediate piece for a gastight and smooth transition into the inlet capillary. The reaction tube is shaped so that the atmospheric pressure gas stream passing therethrough form the entrance of the tune to the intermediate piece is stably laminar. Analyte molecules from gas chromatographs, spray devices or vaporization devices can be introduced into the entrance of the reaction tube and ionized within the tube by single- or multi-photon ionization, by chemical ionization, by reactant ions or by physical ionization. For single- or multi-photon ionization, a beam from a laser can be passed axially down the reaction tube. Reactant ions can be produced by any means outside of the reaction tube and mixed with the analyte molecules within the tube. | 02-17-2011 |
20110036978 | INTRODUCTION OF IONS INTO MASS SPECTROMETERS THROUGH LAVAL NOZZLES - Ions entrained in a gas are transported into the vacuum system of an ion user, such as a mass spectrometer, from an ion source located outside the vacuum. The gas and ions pass through a nozzle that connects the ion source to the vacuum system and is shaped to form a supersonic gas jet in a first vacuum chamber of the vacuum system. In the first vacuum chamber, ions entrained in the supersonic gas jet are extracted electrically or magnetically and are collected, for example, by an RF ion funnel and transmitted to the ion user. The supersonic gas jet travels on and, after passing through the first vacuum chamber, the supersonic gas jet is directed into a separate pump chamber out of which the gas is pumped. | 02-17-2011 |
20100317044 | MASS SPECTROMETRIC ENDOPEPTIDASE ASSAY - The activity of a selected endopeptidase in a body fluid is determined by the mass spectrometric measurement of the reaction products of reporter substrate molecules added to the body fluid. Each reporter substrate molecule includes a peptide with the cleavage motif of the endopeptidase, an anchor group A1 on one side of the cleavage site and a different anchor group A2 on the other side of the cleavage site. One anchor is used to extract the reporter substrate molecules from the body fluid and the other anchor is used to extract digest fragments of the reporter molecules from the body fluid. Mass markers allow several reporter substrates to be used simultaneously in the same body fluid sample to measure the activity of different types of endopeptidase. | 12-16-2010 |
20100301204 | INTRODUCTION OF IONS INTO KINGDON ION TRAPS - In a Kingdon ion trap in which harmonic ion oscillation in a potential well in a longitudinal direction is completely decoupled from ion oscillation in a direction transverse to the longitudinal direction, ions enter the trap via an entrance tube extending through, but electrically insulated from, one of the Kingdon trap housing electrodes and located outside the minimum of the potential well in the longitudinal direction. The geometry of the Kingdon trap is arranged so that the oscillating ions introduced through the entrance tube cannot return to the entrance tube until they have performed several longitudinal oscillations during which time heavy ions can be introduced into the trap. | 12-02-2010 |
20100248298 | MASS SPECTROMETRIC IDENTIFICATION OF MICROORGANISMS IN COMPLEX SAMPLES - Microorganisms are identified as present in a complex sample or mixed culture by acquiring a mass spectrum of the sample and comparing it to combination spectra, each of which is formed by combining at least two reference mass spectra of known microorganisms. Microorganisms corresponding to the reference spectra used to form the combination spectrum are identified as present in the sample if that combination spectrum exhibits a better match with the sample mass spectrum than any one of reference mass spectra used to form that combination spectrum. It is also possible to identify microorganisms by forming a difference spectrum by subtracting a reference mass spectrum from the sample mass spectrum and comparing the difference spectrum to the reference mass spectra. | 09-30-2010 |
20100237238 | PROTEIN SEQUENCING WITH MALDI MASS SPECTROMETRY - In a mass spectrometer, sample ions are produced by using matrix assisted laser desorption with a matrix substance that supports spontaneous, non-ergodic ISD fragmentation and a laser light source with nanosecond light pulses and a multiple spot beam profile. A plurality of individual time-of-flight spectra are recorded from the resulting ions in such a way that amplification of ion signals in the mass spectrometer detector is initially reduced so that only ions with masses near a mass range limit are initially recorded. During the repeated acquisitions of the individual time-of-flight spectra, both the detector amplification and the mass range limit are increased. By these methods, it is possible to evaluate c and z fragment ions in lower mass ranges and to directly read N-terminal sequences from near terminus up to 80 amino acids and beyond, and C-terminal sequences up to more than 60 amino acids. | 09-23-2010 |
20100207020 | HIGH MASS RESOLUTION WITH ICR MEASURING CELLS - The compensation potentials on the compensation electrodes of an ICR measuring cell are sequentially adjusted so that an ICR measurement with the longest possible usable image current transient is produced. Then, subsequent ICR measurements are made using the ICR cell with the optimally adjusted compensation potentials. Depending on the kind of ion mixture involved, measurements with image current transients from 10 to more than 20 seconds long can be performed, from which mass spectra with a maximum mass resolution without peak coalescence can be obtained. | 08-19-2010 |
20100176289 | EXCITATION OF IONS IN ICR MASS SPECTROMETERS - In an ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer ions are excited into cyclotron orbits by an alternating current excitation signal having a nonlinear function of the excitation frequency vs. time in a “chirp.” Such an excitation signal produces transients which have no pronounced beats, even if mixtures of many ion species, all having the same mass differences, are present. The dynamic measuring range for the image currents can thus be better utilized. In particular, sum spectra of specified quality can be generated from a significantly smaller number of individual transients, and thus in a significantly shorter measuring time. | 07-15-2010 |
20100140466 | RADICAL ANIONS FOR ELECTRON TRANSFER DISSOCIATION - Radical anions for use in the fragmentation of positively charged biopolymer ions by means of electron transfer are produced from substances previously unknown for use as ETD production substances. The inventive substances produce radical anions that lead to electron transfer dissociations with a high yield of fragment ions. The substances have high volatility that allows them to be kept in unheated containers outside the vacuum system and transported into the vacuum system to an in vacuum electron attachment ion source via unheated lines and low molecular weights that allow the measurement of even very light fragment ions. In one embodiment, a suitable substance is 1-3-5-7-cyclooctatetraene. | 06-10-2010 |
20100108880 | LINEAR ION TRAP AS ION REACTOR - In a linear ion trap ions of both positive and negative polarities are stored simultaneously for fragmentation reactions caused by electron transfer dissociation (ETD). The ion trap comprises a plurality of parallel pole rods or stacked rings and the ions are stored by applying two phases of a first RF voltage to the pole rods or stacked rings in alternation, thereby radially confining both positive and negative ions. A second, single-phase RF voltage is applied to all the pole rods or stacked rings in common and creates a pseudopotential barrier at the ends of the linear ion trap that acts axially on ions of both polarities in order to maintain the ions in the trap. | 05-06-2010 |
20100090102 | ION MOBILITY MEASUREMENT AT A POTENTIAL BARRIER - Ion mobilities are measured by entraining the ions in a gas and adiabatically expanding the ion-containing gas through a nozzle to form a gas jet. An electrical field barrier with variable height is located at the nozzle exit. The field barrier may be located adjacent to the nozzle exit or an ion guide may be located between the nozzle and the field barrier. If a continuous ion current is supplied, the height of the barrier is varied and the ion current of the ions passing over the barrier is measured, the ion current can be differentiated to generate a mobility spectrum. Alternatively, the ions can be temporarily stored in the ion guide so that measurement of the ion current of the ions passing over the barrier results in a direct measurement of the mobility spectrum. | 04-15-2010 |
20090294656 | FRAGMENTATION OF IONS IN KINGDON ION TRAPS - Fragment ion spectra are acquired in Kingdon ion traps that have a potential well for harmonic oscillations of the ions in the longitudinal direction and in which the ions can oscillate radially in a plane between two or more inner electrodes. Metastable ions, preferably produced by laser desorption, are introduced into the Kingdon ion trap close to the minimum of the longitudinal potential well and stored there locally for a predetermined time period. Excess internal energy in the metastable ions causes most of the ions to decompose ergodically to fragment ions. Then the fragment ions and any remaining analyte ions are excited to execute harmonic oscillations in the longitudinal potential well. The harmonic oscillations are measured as image currents, from which a high-resolution mass spectrum of the fragment ions can be calculated. | 12-03-2009 |
20090294647 | MEASURING THE MOBILITY OF MASS SELECTED IONS - In an ion mobility spectrometer (IMS) coupled to a mass spectrometer (MS), the ion current from a suitable ion source is modulated with an analog modulation having a smooth modulation function, whose instantaneous frequency varies with time over a wide frequency range. The modulated ion current is continuously fed through a mobility drift region into the mass spectrometer, where the temporally varying ion current profile of at least one ion species is measured. The mobility spectrum of the ion species is then generated by correlating its ion current time profile with the modulation function. | 12-03-2009 |
20090283675 | 3D ION TRAP AS FRAGMENTATION CELL - In a tandem mass spectrometer with mass selector spatially separated from a mass analyzer, ions are fragmented in a three-dimensional RF by electron transfer dissociation. The fragment ions are then extracted from the 3D ion trap and introduced into the mass analyzer. The extraction is accomplished by providing, in one of the ion trap end cap electrodes, an aperture with a relatively large area covered by a conductive mesh or formed by closely spaced smaller apertures. The fragment ions are extracted from the RF ion trap by applying a DC voltage to one of the end cap electrodes. | 11-19-2009 |
20090283672 | FRAGMENTATION OF ANALYTE IONS BY COLLISIONS IN RF ION TRAPS - Analyte ions, particularly biopolymer ions, stored in an RF ion trap are ergodically fragmented by bombarding the analyte ions with collision ions, for example medium-mass, mono-atomic ions having a charge of opposite polarity to the charge of the analyte ions. Since the analyte ions are not fragmented by accelerating and/or exciting them to oscillations, as is the case with conventional collision-induced dissociation, the RF voltage of the ion trap can be set low enough that daughter ions with light charge-related masses that are produced by the fragmentation can also remain trapped in the ion trap. | 11-19-2009 |
20090249897 | TRANSFER OF SUBSTANCES ADHERING TO SURFACES INTO A DETECTION INSTRUMENT - A method for the transfer of target substances (drugs, pollutants, explosives and chemical warfare agents) from a surface to be investigated into a detection instrument, the target substances being present in the form of condensations of vapors on the surface itself or on particles adhering to it, or as particles sticking to the surface. The method comprises the steps of (a) moving a sampler, consisting of either a fiber bundle or a fastener strip with fiber loops, over the surface to be investigated, thus transferring substances to the fibers or the fiber loops or embedding particles into the gaps between the fibers or the fiber loops of the sampler, (b) transferring the sampler into a desorption device of the detection device, and (c) heating the sampler to evaporate the target substances. Various sampler designs can be incorporated into devices using the method. | 10-08-2009 |
20090200457 | AUTOMATIC CLEANING OF MALDI ION SOURCES - In an ion source that generates ions by matrix-assisted laser desorption (MALDI), ion acceleration diaphragms having apertures though which ions are accelerated and which have become contaminated by matrix material, are cleaned by temporarily heating the diaphragms. During the cleaning process, the sample support plate is moved aside but remains in the ion source housing, and the heating is preferably limited to regions surrounding the apertures in the diaphragms. In one embodiment, the diaphragms are heated by irradiation generated by infrared laser diodes. | 08-13-2009 |
20090095903 | CLEANED DAUGHTER ION SPECTRA FROM MALDI IONIZATION - In a mass spectrometer having an ion source in which analyte substances are ionized by matrix assisted laser desorption and form an ion beam that travels to a parent ion selector for selecting ions to form daughter ions, the ion beam is reflected in at least one reflector prior to the parent ion selector so that only ions that have both the mass of the parent ions and their kinetic energy are allowed to pass to the parent ion selector. By taking this measure, the mass resolution in the daughter ion spectra is also increased; the improved mass resolution and improved signal-to-noise ratio produce higher sensitivity, even though fewer ions are admitted for analysis in the daughter ion spectrum. | 04-16-2009 |
20090084948 | OVERCOMING SPACE CHARGE EFFECTS IN ION CYCLOTRON RESONANCE MASS SPECTROMETERS - In an ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer in which ions are trapped axially by applying electrical potentials to a pattern of electrode elements to produce an inhomogeneous alternating radio-frequency electric field with a repulsive effect, an additional electrostatic ion-attracting field is superimposed on the repulsive electric field. The voltage of the ion-attracting field is adjusted to compensate for a cyclotron frequency shift of the ions caused by the ion space charge. The voltage of the ion-attracting field can be adjusted so that the ion cyclotron frequency of all ions becomes independent of the number of ions inside the spectrometer. | 04-02-2009 |
20090039283 | IONIZATION OF DESORBED MOLECULES - An ion source generates ions from analyte molecules which are desorbed from a sample on the surface of a sample support in a pressure range of approximately 30 to 300 pascal. Reactant ions are generated in a separate ion source and guided by ion guides to the point in front of the sample or to a reaction chamber in which the desorbed molecules are located. The reactant ions ionize the desorbed molecules to form analyte ions. The analyte molecules can be mixed in matrix material or adsorbed on the sample support surface without additives. The desorption can be continuous or pulsed, for example by light from lasers or diodes. | 02-12-2009 |
20090039282 | MATRIX-ASSISTED LASER DESORPTION WITH HIGH IONIZATION YIELD - Analyte ions are generated in an ion source by matrix-assisted laser desorption (MALDI) in which laser light pulses have significantly less than one nanosecond duration, focal diameters of less than twenty micrometers and energy densities such that only about one picogram of sample is desorbed per pulse of laser light and per laser spot. An unexpectedly high degree of ionization of analyte molecules is produced for selected matrix substances. Many laser spots can be generated side-by-side from a single laser light pulse for use with MALDI time-of-flight mass spectrometers. Applying pulses with a repetition rate of around 50 kilohertz and moving the sample or guiding the laser light beam so each laser light pulse impinges on a cool sample spot allows the ion source to be used with spectrometers that require a constant ion current. | 02-12-2009 |
20090032700 | THREE-DIMENSIONAL RF ION TRAPS WITH HIGH ION CAPTURE EFFICIENCY - In a three-dimensional Paul RF ion trap at least one of the ring electrode and end cap electrodes is structured to produce a high capture efficiency for analyte ions introduced into the trap. The electrode structuring may be produced by an electrode surface profile having edges or protrusions, resulting in a scattering reflection of the introduced ions. Alternatively, at least one electrode may be formed by physically separate electrode components. In one embodiment, the trap can be switched between operating as a linear ion trap with good capture efficiency and operating as a three-dimensional ion trap with good ion reaction conditions. | 02-05-2009 |
20080296485 | Method and Device for Mass Spectrometry Examination of Analytes - The invention relates to a method for the mass spectrometry examination of at least one analyte, wherein an analyte to be examined is photoionized and the mass of the ions produced is determined in a mass spectrometer. The analyte to be examined is ionized at normal atmospheric ambient pressure by means of laser light using multiphoton ionization, especially resonant multiphoton ionization. The invention also relates to a device which comprises an ionization chamber in which an analyte to be examined is ionized at normal atmospheric ambient pressure using resonant multiphoton ionization and is transferred into a mass spectrometer. Said device can be used as an interface between a device for the chromatographic or electrophoretic separation of analytes and a mass spectrometer. | 12-04-2008 |
20080251715 | INTRODUCTION OF IONS INTO A MAGNETIC FIELD - In a mass spectrometer that uses a space-restricted magnetic field, such as an ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer, ions with a wide mass range generated in an ion supply located outside the magnetic field are transported in the direction of the magnetic field lines to an ion storage device located inside the magnetic field without losing ions by guiding the ions through the region in which the magnetic field strength increases with a special ion guide. This ion guide consists of an arrangement of coaxial ring diaphragms which are alternately supplied with the phases of an RF voltage. In an alternative embodiment, the ion guide uses two wires wound in a double helix where each wire is supplied with one phase of a two-phase RF voltage. | 10-16-2008 |
20080251712 | MEASUREMENT OF THE MOBILITY OF MASS-SELECTED IONS - The mobility of mass-selected ions in gases is measured at pressures of a few hectopascal by selecting the ions under investigation in a quadrupole filter according to their mass-to-charge ratio m/z, measuring their mobility in a drift region at a pressure of a few hundred Pascal under the influence of a DC electric field and then filtering the measured ions by means of a quadrupole field in order to eliminate, or detect changes in, the mass-to-charge ratio. Several embodiments for the drift region are disclosed, in which the ions are kept in the axis of the drift region by RF fields. As these drift regions can also be utilized for a collision-induced decomposition of the ions, the device can additionally be used as a so-called triple quadrupole mass spectrometer. | 10-16-2008 |