Automatic cleaning in acoustic ejection mass spectrometry: Enhancing the system robustness for large-scale...

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Biotechnology
• Pharmacology

Background:

• High-throughput mass spectrometry (HT-MS) is crucial for drug discovery.
• Acoustic ejection mass spectrometry (AEMS) offers high throughput and data quality.
• AEMS enables direct analysis of complex samples, but faces robustness challenges like clogging.

Purpose of the Study:

• To enhance the robustness of the AEMS system.
• To address sample transfer line clogging in large-scale screenings.
• To improve system performance for continuous high-throughput analysis.

Main Methods:

• Integrated an automatic washing feature into the AEMS system.
• Evaluated the impact of the washing feature on system robustness and electrode lifetime.
• Assessed performance without affecting assay execution time.

Main Results:

• The automatic washing feature significantly improved AEMS system robustness.
• Extended electrode lifetime was demonstrated, indicating sustained performance.
• The enhancement maintained system performance over prolonged analysis periods.

Conclusions:

• The integrated washing feature effectively mitigates clogging issues in AEMS.
• This improvement supports the use of AEMS for continuous, large-sample-scale high-throughput analysis.
• The AEMS system with the washing feature shows potential for robust drug discovery and development pipelines.