Double Trap Interface: A novel gas interface for high throughput analysis of biomedical samples by AMS

Area of Science:

• Pharmacokinetics and Drug Metabolism
• Analytical Chemistry
• Biomedical Science

Background:

• Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) provides high sensitivity for 14C-labeled compound tracing in ADME studies.
• Current AMS applications are limited by complexity and cost compared to Liquid Scintillation Counting (LSC).
• Advancements in compact AMS systems have spurred interest in combustion-based, gaseous sample analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a novel gas Double Trap Interface (DTI) for high-throughput AMS analysis of biomedical samples.
• To integrate an Elemental Analyzer (EA) with a MICADAS AMS system for automated 14C analysis.
• To assess the performance of the DTI-EA-MICADAS system for ADME-related sample analysis.

Main Methods:

• Design and implementation of a gas Double Trap Interface (DTI) for coupling an Elemental Analyzer (EA) to a MICADAS AMS system.
• Automated analysis of over 1000 14C-labeled biomatrix and liquid chromatography (LC) fraction samples.
• Measurement of sample activities ranging from 1 to 1000 mBq/g for biomatrices and 1 to 10000 mBq/g(C) for LC fractions.

Main Results:

• The DTI-EA-MICADAS system achieved high sample throughput, with automated measurements taking less than 5 minutes per sample.
• The system demonstrated reliable performance across a wide range of 14C activities in diverse biomedical samples.
• No sample conversion to graphite was required, simplifying the analytical workflow.

Conclusions:

• The novel DTI-EA-MICADAS system provides an efficient, automated, and cost-effective solution for 14C-AMS analysis in ADME studies.
• This approach enhances the accessibility and applicability of AMS for pharmacokinetic and metabolic investigations.
• The system facilitates rapid analysis of gaseous samples, overcoming previous limitations in AMS utilization.