Whole blood analysis for medical diagnostics by GC-MS with Cold EI

Fast saliva analysis by GC-MS with Cold EI and Open Probe Fast GC-MS with Cold EI for the detection of cannabis usage

Saliva is a body fluid that is much easier to collect and analyze than blood. Thus, saliva analysis for the detection of delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta 9-THC) can serve as a tool for law enforcement agents to detect cannabis consumption by drivers. Fast saliva analysis for the presence of delta 9-THC and/or cannabidiol (CBD) is described with both gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) with Cold electron ionization (EI) with good separation and in 10 min and/or with Open Probe Fast GC-MS with Cold EI in under 1 min full analysis cycle time. Saliva was taken directly from donors' tongues on a thin glass rod that was used "as is" for analysis. The saliva was thermally desorbed with a modified ChromatoProbe device inside the gas chromatograph (GC) injector and in an Open Probe (Agilent name QuickProbe) for its sub-1-min analysis. Cold EI is based on coupling of the GC and mass spectrometer (MS) with a supersonic molecular beam and on EI of vibrationally cold sample molecules during their flight through a contact-free ion source (thereby named Cold EI). A revised type of Open Probe Fast GC-MS on the bench is also described. Our saliva analysis was characterized by: Saliva can be collected in the field and transported to the lab for analyses "as is" without any sample preparation. Easy detection of cannabis consumption from cigarettes and/or other cannabis products. Distinction between the isomers delta 9-THC and CBD. Ultra-fast analysis in under 1 min using Open Probe Fast GC-MS with Cold EI.

Comprehensive Controller for Super Sonic Molecular Beam Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer

This paper presents a new, comprehensive digital circuit used for the control of a novel gas chromatograph mass spectrometer (GC-MS) interface that is based on supersonic molecular beam (SMB). The circuit includes a Texas Instruments 150 MHz digital signal controller (DSC), high voltage amplifiers for 8 independent channels and 4 independent channels of high resolution pulse width modulation (PWM). The circuit, along with a sophisticated embedded program and a custom made personal computer (PC) application, control all aspects of the interface: smart filament emission-current stabilization, static and scanning mass-dependent ion-source voltages, transfer-line heater proportional integral differential (PID) controls with thermocouple feedbacks, on/off valves, relays and several peripheral device controls that enable the full operation of a turbo-molecular vacuum pump, and of gas flow and pressure controllers. All aspects of this comprehensive controller were successfully tested. The signal for the 450 Th ion (C32H66) for example increased by 123% which is a significant increase. It is obvious that correctly tuned dynamic voltages can guarantee the optimal signal for each mass.