Mass Spectrometry

Mass spectrometry (MS) is one of the most versatile and powerful instrument techniques available today. The market for MS runs the gamut of applications from pharmaceutical research and discovery labs, to military armament, to semiconductor processing, to environmental testing. The list seems to go on almost without end. New mass spectrometer techniques, including various tandem MS techniques and applications continue to be developed and are being embraced by the growing fraternity of MS users.

2006 extraction technique product type.

Mass spectrometers offer various levels of speed, sensitivity, and resolution in their various configurations. Instruments such as RGAs and leak detectors are simple mass spectrometers that identify one or a few basic compounds, while the newest techniques, can fingerprint complex mixtures of proteins at high speeds. MS techniques can be applied to a massive range of chemicals and compounds, whether organic, inorganic, or biological. Advancements in computer control software and communications have helped to make mass spectrometry much more effective and easier to use.

SDi surveyed MS users from 650 labs around the world. Nearly half of the survey respondents worked in the biotechnology or pharmaceutical industries. LC–MS and LC–MS-MS were by far the most popular techniques used among these interviewees, while GCand magnetic sector systems were abundant in environmental testing labs. MALDI-TOF and FT–MS also were mentioned frequently from the overall respondent base.

The foregoing data was extracted and adapted from SDi's Market Analysis and Perspective: High Performance Liquid Chromatography. For more information, contact Glenn Cudiamat, VP of Research Services, Strategic Directions International, Inc., 6242 Westchester Parkway, Suite 100, Los Angeles, CA 90045, (310) 641-4982, fax: (310) 641-8851, e-mail: cudiamat@strategic-directions.com