Miniature mass spectrometers and their potential for clinical point‐of‐care analysis

Abstract

Mass spectrometry (MS) has become a powerful technique for clinical applications with high sensitivity and specificity. Different from conventional MS diagnosis in laboratory, point‐of‐care (POC) analyses in clinics require mass spectrometers and analytical procedures to be friendly for novice users and applicable for on‐site clinical diagnosis. The recent decades have seen the progress in the development of miniature mass spectrometers, providing a promising solution for clinical POC applications. In this review, we report recent advances of miniature mass spectrometers and their exploration in clinical applications, mainly including the rapid analysis of illegal drugs, on‐site monitoring of therapeutic drugs, and detection of biomarkers. With improved analytical performance, miniature mass spectrometers are also expected to apply to more and more clinical applications. Some promising POC analyses that can be performed by miniature mass spectrometers in the future are discussed. Lastly, we also provide our perspectives on the challenges in technical development of miniature mass spectrometers for clinical POC analysis.

Triboelectric Nanogenerators for the Masses: A Low-Cost Do-It-Yourself Pulsed Ion Source for Sample-Limited Applications

“…This new construction provides a 20-fold decrease in cost and 30-fold decrease in size compared to previously reported TENG designs, putting it on par with the power supply equipment required for pulsed DC nESI in terms of footprint while maintaining a lower cost. − This signifcantly smaller device opens new opportunities for conducting nESI experiments in frugal academic settings, including mobile field demonstrations when powered by a small portable power station or battery. Additionally, this new portability lends well to the growing field of on-site and point of care mass spectrometry. ,− We demonstrate this new design is capable of reproducing previously reported data with high fidelity while unveiling new TENG nESI mechanisms not previously reported. We provide extensive step-by-step build instructions with the goal of democratizing TENG nESI for a wider audience in the MS field.…”

Recent reports on the sensing strategy and the On-site detection of illegal drugs

“…Miniature mass spectrometers have also shown great potential for the on-site analysis of illicit drugs when coupled with ambient ionization methods. 93 In 2021, matrix-assisted ionization was also coupled to the Mini β system for the suspect screening of fentanyl analogues by Guo et al 94 …”

A Miniature Orthogonal Injection Ion Funnel (MO-IF) Providing Enhanced Performance for the Miniature Mass Spectrometer

“…Over the past few decades, there have been significant advancements in miniature mass spectrometry (MS), encompassing key techniques and whole instrumentation. − Hands of miniaturized instruments have been developed and commercialized by some companies. Miniature mass spectrometer (mini-MS) systems with atmospheric pressure interfaces such as continuous (CAPI) − and discontinuous (DAPI) − ones can couple with diverse ambient ionization sources and have demonstrated significant potential in various fields of in situ analysis, including public safety and clinical point-of-care testing. − Miniature mass spectrometers have always pursued high sensitivity for field trace analysis. However, API mini-MS systems experience significant ion transmission losses, resulting in decreased sensitivity.…”