Project: Industrial Mobility & Mass Analyzer
The objective of the project IMMA is to develop a pre-marketable Transversal Modulation Ion Mobility Spectrometry (TMIMS) system integrated with a pre-existing Mass Spectrometer (MS) so as to enhance the separation capacity of the later._x000D_MS instrumentation represents the most relevant subfield of the analytical laboratory instrumentation field. Mass Spectrometry is the core technique behind many scientific, technical and social developments in the last quarter of century: medical diagnosis, new drugs development, proteomics, air and water quality, drugs control in sport, forensic and toxilogical analysis and many other aspects which impact our daily life are based upon MS. The continuously increasing sensitivity of current MS allows for detecting more and more species and increases fields of application of these technologies and potential markets. However, this opportunity creates a new challenge: the apparent complexity of samples is also increased, and the selectivity of the analyzers has to be accordingly improved to tackle the new complexity. In order to achieve such target, Ion Mobility Spectrometry (IMS) is a technique that is attracting increasing interest, due to its capability to act as a prefilter for MS, and consequently decrease the complexity of samples reaching the instrument. In practice, TMIMS serves to improve the reliability of the obtained data. It can be used in proteomics analysis, and also in applications with high responsibility in different fields, including pharmaceutical, forensic and toxicological analysis, and diagnostic analysis. _x000D__x000D_In terms of its functionality, an ideal IMS filter should be able to: (i) allow the passage of mobility-filtered ions in a continuous fashion (an otherwise pulsed output would require a complicated synchronization scheme and a modification of the MS); (ii) to operate at atmospheric pressure so as to interface the inlet of the MS as any other regular ionization source, which is a regular laboratory procedure; (iii) to measure the absolute mobility, which offers easy to interpret structural data; and to pass all ions (no pre-filtration, also termed transparent mode) when required to decouple the information produced by the IMS and the MS, so as to ease the identification of the analytes in each analyzer. There are currently various different technological IMS approaches in tandem with MS (IMS-MS), which will be further discussed in section 2.2.2.2. However, there is at present no competitive technology capable of providing these features. In contrast, TMIMS technology joins all these features and additionally allows the simultaneous measurement of the mobility of ions in two different media (it would be the first system providing IMS-IMS pre-filtration). As a result, TMIMS is an ideal choice for tandem IMS-MS and IMS-IMS-MS analysis, in combination with most commercial Atmospheric Pressure Ionization MS (API-MS) systems. _x000D__x000D_TMIMS technology has been developed by the R&D performing SME SEADM, and funded by the Spanish R&D program AVANZA (projects VEAME and VEAME DOBLE). Results of these developments were presented in high impact specialized journals (Analytical Chemistry) and conferences (International conference of Mass Spectrometry, and American Society for Mass Spectrometry meeting)._x000D_Given the interest raised among the scientific community and the industry, SEADM, with the support of Thermo Fisher Scientific, decided to develop a TMIMS in tandem with a commercial pre-existing Mass Spectrometer._x000D__x000D_Following the natural tandem TMIMS-MS, the IMMA consortium incorporates SEADM, which provides the TMIMS know how and facilities, and TFS, which provides an MS, its technical know-how, and its commercial capability. The project avails the knowledge and understanding of the Analytical Chemistry market provided by TFS._x000D__x000D_The pre-marketable TMIMS prototype resulting from the IMMA project will be designed to (i) interface commercial mass spectrometers, to (ii) interface commercial ionizers including commercial Liquid Chromatography (LC) ionization stages; and (iii) it will be certified for commercial purposes. The resulting instrument will be capable of LC-IMS-IMS-MS analysis, and also IMS-IMS-MS, LC-IMS-MS, LC-MS and MS only modes, thus maximizing the possibilities offered to the end users._x000D__x000D_The market envisaged is in a classical technology-driven situation: the market share will be given by the advantages offered by the new technological solution over its competitors. Fortunately for IMMA, the TMIMS configuration offers unprecedented performances (high transmission, high resolving power, and IMS-IMS analysis for the first time) with a relatively inexpensive Add-on approach that is not offered by any of its competitors.
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Acronym
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IMMA
(Reference Number: 8123)
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Duration
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15/11/2013 - 15/05/2016
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Project Topic
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The IMMA project will develop a pre-marketable technology for the analysis of chemical species in tandem with Mass Spectrometry. The new system, in combination with the pre-existing analyzers, will provide unprecedented separation capacity, which is crucial in many applications
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Network
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Eurostars
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Call
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Eurostars Cut-Off 10
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Project partner
