Report shows MS to be powerful market

Mass spectrometry (MS) is one of the most versatile and powerful instrument techniques available today according to data featured in SDi’s Global Assessment Report, 9th Edition, reports ChromatographyOnline.com.

The market for mass spectrometry runs the gamut of applications from pharmaceutical research and discovery labs, to military armament, semiconductor processing, and environmental testing. The list seems almost endless, the report finds.

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. Mass spectrometers offer various levels of speed, sensitivity and resolution in their various configurations. Instruments such as RGA’s 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.

The SDi report draws to the point that mass spectrometry 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 over 650 labs’ mass spectrometry users from around the world, with nearly half of the survey respondents working in the biotechnology or pharmaceutical industries. LC/MS and LC/MS/MS were by far the most popular techniques used among those interviewees, while GC/MS and magnetic sector systems were abundant in environmental testing labs.

MALDI-TOF and FT-MS were also frequently mentioned from the overall respondent base.

The data was extracted and adapted from SDi's Global Assessment Report, 9th Edition.