Mass Spectrometer Saves Power While Tracking Harmful Substances

February 1, 2010

British researchers who received R&D assistance from the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) are marketing a new tool that could zero in on toxic chemicals in baby formula, lead paints in toys and on walls, and poisonous substances in the blood stream.

Microsaic Systems, Ltd. (Surrey, UK) produces and markets a low-cost, low-power, miniaturized mass spectrometer capable of identifying chemical compositions in virtually any environment. The technology may have potential in the food- and consumer- product safety testing markets. MDA first took note of the technology in 2005 when it awarded Microsaic research funds to demonstrate the technology’s potential in ballistic missile defense systems.

How it Works

Microsaic’s patented technology, known commercially as Ionchip®, is effectively a miniaturized version of a chemical analytical tool that has been around for the last half-century. This tool, a mass spectrometer, determines the chemical composition of a sample by ionizing molecules of the sample and sorting them by mass-to-charge ratio using a device such as a quadrupole mass analyzer. The quadrupole creates a rapidly changing electromagnetic field that affects the trajectory of the ion beam as it travels toward a detector.

Microsaic’s innovation is that the company can use the same concept of conventional mass spectroscopy while reducing size, power consumption, and production cost. Microsaic miniaturizes the technology into a microchip by using semiconductor manufacturing processes and the laws of scaling. Developed under this method, the company’s quadrupoles measure 1/10 the size and use 1/100 the power of conventional instruments. And these are incredibly small parts. An Ionchip is less than 3 cubic centimeters in volume.

The entire mass spectroscopy device, which includes six distinct systems — commercial-off-the-shelf components plus an Ionchip — can be scaled down to the size of a shoebox. This amounts to a radical reduction in size over other commercially available mass spectrometers.

Where it Stands

Commercial applications for Microsaic’s technologies are boundless. Detecting dangerous or unhealthy substances in food is one major area. In 2008, the World Health Organization used mass spectrometers to determine melamine contamination of Chinese-manufactured baby food that caused acute sickness in thousands of children worldwide. Another area is in consumer product safety testing. Microsaic’s technology could be used to analyze the coatings of children’s toys to ensure that harmful lead paint is not present. Healthcare and toxicology is another possible avenue for Microsaic, as mass spectrometers can analyze body fluids for toxic substances, including drug overdoses, using a technique known as gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, or GC-MS.

Microsaic intends to continue investigating new commercialization opportunities while furthering its work with MDA and the British Ministry of Defense.

More Information

For more information on Microsaic’s Ionchip, visit http://info.hotims.com/28050-515  . (Source: Joe Singleton/NTTC; MDA TechUpdate, Missile Defense Agency, National Technology Transfer Center Washington Operations)

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