Mass Spectrometry Makes Inroads Into The Clinical Lab

14 Oct 2016

• By Alina Kim, Sunayana Karra, and Akash Kundu

The use of mass spectrometry in IVD applications looks to be gaining momentum. In this article, Alina Kim, Sunayana Karra and Akash Kundu of Boston Biomedical Consultants report on new developments and innovations showcased at the American Association for Clinical Chemistry Annual (AACC) & Clinical Lab Expo (CLE) annual meeting that took place this summer. Players at the convention exhibited a range of Class I medical devices, research use only liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI-TOF), inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), sample preparation automation platforms, and software solutions.

Vial — Mass spectrometry in clinical settings • Source: shutterstock.com

For years, mass spectrometry has been a key point of conversation during the annual AACC meetings, but it was an especially hot topic in 2014. That year, both SCIEX and Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., two top mass spec vendors, revealed products that were listed as class I medical devices. Mass spec systems are typically not classified as medical devices, and this is the first time SCIEX and Thermo Fisher were able to obtain this classification for their products.

Vendors that year also hosted five widely attended industry workshops with topics such as "How to Justify LC-MS/MS to Lab...