Flexible Ion Transfer Device for Mass Spectrometry
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional mass spectrometers are bulky and inflexible, limiting their application in point-of-need scenarios such as medical and security settings, where they are required to be more portable and efficient in ion transfer, especially when analyzing bulky or immobile samples.
Innovation Solution
A flexible ion transfer device that can be re-configured to transfer ions from an ambient ion source to a mass spectrometer, maintaining reduced pressure and using a plurality of electrodes to guide ions efficiently, allowing for bending and shape transformation while minimizing ion loss.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a conventional mass spectrometer is used, then ion analysis can be performed with high precision, but the device is bulky and lacks flexibility for portable applications
Solution Approach 1:
The mass spectrometer is divided into separate modules: a stationary analysis unit and a mobile ionization probe unit connected by a flexible ion transfer tube. This segmentation allows the bulky vacuum system and analyzer to remain stationary while the ionization capability becomes portable, resolving the contradiction between flexibility and device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention separates the ionization function (mobile, 3D positioning) from the analysis function (stationary), allowing the ion source to be positioned in spatial dimensions away from the mass analyzer. This dimensional separation enables portable ionization while maintaining stationary high-precision analysis, addressing both flexibility and complexity requirements.
2Ease of operation
If the ion source is detached and positioned remotely, then accessibility to bulky samples improves, but ion transfer efficiency decreases due to ion loss
Solution Approach 1:
A flexible ion transfer tube acts as an intermediary component between the remote ionization probe and the stationary mass analyzer. This tube maintains vacuum integrity and guides ions over extended distances, enabling sample accessibility while minimizing ion loss through proper vacuum sealing and ion optics.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible ion transfer tube uses flexible vacuum-sealed structures to connect the mobile ion source with the stationary analyzer. This flexible shell maintains the vacuum environment necessary for ion transport while allowing the ionization probe to be positioned remotely for better sample accessibility without excessive ion loss.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the ion transfer device is made flexible and reconfigurable, then portability and positioning flexibility improve, but maintaining reduced pressure becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible ion transfer system is segmented into modular vacuum-sealed sections with flexible connectors. Each segment can be independently vacuum-sealed, allowing the system to maintain reduced pressure while accommodating reconfiguration and bending, thus resolving the contradiction between reconfigurability and vacuum maintenance reliability.
4Productivity
If sequentially-packed ion packets are transferred, then analysis throughput increases, but ion packet management complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses periodic pulsed ionization and sequential ion packet ejection through the flexible transfer tube. This periodic action creates discrete ion packets that can be sequentially transferred and analyzed, increasing throughput while the regular rhythm simplifies timing and control compared to continuous ion flow management.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution enhances the portability and efficiency of mass spectrometry by enabling continuous analysis of ions produced from remote locations, increasing throughput and reducing ion loss, thus improving analytical performance and accessibility in various applications.
Implementation Method 1
a plurality of electrodes disposed at least in part inside the enclosure such that the ion transfer device is configured to be flexible or re-configurable
Implementation Method 2
transferring ions produced from a sample in a first location using an ion source to an ion analyzer
Implementation Method 3
an enclosure configured to maintain reduced pressure
Implementation Method 4
the vacuum in the mass analyzer of a mass spectrometer must be maintained at a pressure that correlates with ion mean free path length longer
Data Source
AI summary
An ion transfer device that transfers ions from at least one ion inlet to at least one ion outlet. The ion transfer device includes an enclosure configured to maintain reduced pressure, and a plurality of electrodes disposed at least in part inside the enclosure such that the ion transfer device is configured to be flexible or re-configurable.