Vibrating Sheet Nebuliser for Charged Aerosol Plume Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing aerosol generation methods for mass spectrometry, such as capillaries, are expensive, slow, require extensive cleaning, waste significant liquid, and risk contamination, while also needing inefficient pre-mixing of reagents.
Innovation Solution
An aerosolisation system using a nebuliser with a vibratable sheet and controlled AC/DC offset voltage to produce reliably charged aerosol plumes, allowing precise control over polarity, volume, and timing of aerosolisation, optionally with a capillary for additional plumes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a capillary is used to produce charged aerosol plumes, then reliable net charged aerosol production is achieved, but the device is expensive, slow to activate and disactivate, requires extensive cleaning, wastes significant liquid, and risks contamination
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the expensive, reusable capillary with a disposable nebuliser tip that can be quickly discarded after use. This eliminates the need for extensive cleaning and reduces contamination risk, while maintaining reliable charged aerosol production. The nebuliser tip is designed for single-use or limited-use scenarios where rapid replacement is more efficient than cleaning and activation/disactivation cycles.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the charging function from the aerosol generation component itself (capillary) and places it in a separate, dedicated charging device. This allows the nebuliser to focus on aerosol generation while the charging device handles ionisation, enabling faster activation and disactivation of the aerosol generation component without compromising charged aerosol production reliability.
2Reliability
If a capillary is used to produce charged aerosol plumes, then reliable net charged aerosol production is achieved, but extensive cleaning is required between uses
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs disposable nebuliser tips that eliminate the need for cleaning between uses. Each tip is designed for single-use or limited-use scenarios where the cost and time of cleaning exceed the cost of replacement. This maintains reliable charged aerosol production while eliminating cleaning time completely.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the nebuliser into a reusable body and disposable tips. This segmentation allows the complex charging mechanism to be isolated in the reusable portion while the simple disposable portion requires no cleaning, thereby maintaining reliability without cleaning time loss.
3Reliability
If a capillary is used to produce charged aerosol plumes, then reliable net charged aerosol production is achieved, but significant liquid is wasted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses dynamic control of the nebuliser operation, activating it only when needed and controlling the duration and intensity of aerosol generation. This dynamic approach, combined with the disposable tip design, ensures that liquid is used efficiently for its intended purpose rather than being wasted in residual amounts left in a capillary.
Solution Approach 2:
The disposable nebuliser tip is designed to contain minimal residual liquid volume compared to a capillary system. After use, the tip is discarded with any remaining liquid, eliminating the need to flush or clean large volumes of liquid from a reusable capillary, thereby reducing overall liquid waste.
4Reliability
If a capillary is used to produce charged aerosol plumes, then reliable net charged aerosol production is achieved, but contamination risk of following samples is high
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses disposable nebuliser tips that are discarded after single or limited use, completely eliminating cross-contamination between samples. Each tip is used once and then discarded, ensuring that no residual material from previous samples can contaminate subsequent analyses, while maintaining reliable charged aerosol production.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent separates the aerosol generation function from the charging function, allowing the disposable nebuliser tip to be dedicated solely to sample introduction without exposure to high voltage charging fields that could cause contamination or degradation of previous samples.
5Productivity
If reagents are mixed prior to addition into the capillary, then aerosol production is achieved, but the process is inefficient in both time and sample volume
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary actions (reagent mixing) directly in the aerosolisation chamber or on the disposable nebuliser tip surface, rather than requiring pre-mixing in separate vessels. This allows rapid mixing of small volumes right at the point of aerosol generation, eliminating time and sample volume loss associated with traditional pre-mixing procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the mixing function with the aerosolisation function by providing surfaces or chambers where reagents can be mixed and immediately aerosolised in the same disposable component. This integration eliminates the need for separate mixing vessels and transfer steps, improving efficiency in both time and sample volume.
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
Enables efficient, controlled production of charged aerosol plumes with reduced liquid waste and contamination risk, facilitating real-time analysis and simplified calibration, and improved control over chemical reactions.
Implementation Method 1
a vibratable sheet having a first surface for receiving liquid thereupon... an electrically-energisable vibration means for causing the vibratable sheet to vibrate
Implementation Method 2
The mass spectrometer is designed to aid in the evaporation of the solvent from these charged droplets to permit the production of gas phase ions of the analytes of interest. This process is usually summarized under the general heading 'electrospray ionisation'.
Implementation Method 3
an offset voltage controller being configured to control a power supply to output an offset voltage to the alternating current control circuit so that in-use the said alternating current outputted to the nebuliser is offset by an offset voltage for controlling the production of charged droplets
Implementation Method 4
the mass spectrometer is designed to aid in the evaporation of the solvent from these charged droplets to permit the production of gas phase ions
Implementation Method 5
the mass spectrometer separates the ions based on their mass to charge ratios
Data Source
AI summary
An aerosolisation system (10) is provided for producing at least one aerosol plume (78) of, optionally charged, droplets (80). The aerosolisation system (10) has a nebuliser (14a), electrically-energisable vibration means (36), and AC control circuit (46b) and an offset voltage controller (68). The nebuliser (14a) includes a vibratable sheet (34) having a first surface (38a) for receiving liquid (76) thereupon, a second surface (38b) opposite the first surface (38a), and an aperture (38c) for permitting fluid therethrough, the aperture (38c) extending from the first surface (38a) to the second surface (38b). The electrically-energisable vibration means (36) in-use causes the vibratable sheet (34) to vibrate. The AC control circuit (46b) has a programmable controller and is configured to control a power supply (30) to output an alternating current to the nebuliser (14a). The offset voltage controller (68) is configured to control a power supply (30) to output an offset voltage to the alternating current control circuit (46b) so that in-use the said alternating current outputted to the nebuliser (14a) is offset by an offset voltage for controlling the production of charged droplets (80) from a liquid (76) received on the first surface (38a).