General Dynamics ATP (GDATP) and Sionex Corporation (Sionex) are carrying out a cooperative development for a handheld chemical agent detector, being called JUNOTM, which will have lower false positives, higher sensitivity, and improved interference rejection compared with presently available detectors. This enhanced performance is made possible by the use of a new principle of ion separation called Differential Mobility Spectrometry (DMS). The enhanced selectivity is provided by the field tunable nature of the Sionex differential mobility technology (microDMxTM) which forms the analytical heart of the JUNO system and enables fingerprinting of molecules by characterization of the ionized molecular behavior under multiple electric field conditions. This enhanced selectivity is valuable in addressing not only the traditional list of chemical warfare agents (CWA) but also the substantial list of Toxic Industrial Compounds (TICs) and Toxic Industrial Materials (TIMs) which may be released in warfare or terrorist situations. Experimental results showing the ability of the microDMx to reject interferences, detect and resolve live agents are presented. An additional breakthrough in the technology was realized by operating the device at a reduced pressure of around 0.5 atmospheres. This reduced pressure operation resulted in roughly doubling the spectrometers resolution over what has previously been reported [1]. Advances have also been made in power consumption and packaging leading to a device suitable for portable, handheld, applications. Experimental results illustrating the performance of the microDMx technology employed in JUNO are highlighted.
Detection of trace gases by ion mobility spectroscopy (IMS) has become common in recent years. In fact, IMS devices are the most commonly deployed military devices for the detection of classical chemical warfare agents (CWA). IMS devices are protecting the homeland by aiding first responders in the identification of toxic industrial chemicals (TICs) and providing explosive and narcotic screening systems. Spurred by the asymmetric threat posed by new threat agents and the ever expanding list of toxic chemicals, research in the development, improvement, and optimization of IMS systems has increased. Much of the research is focused on increasing the sensitivity and selectivity of IMS systems. Ion optics is a large area of study in the field of mass spectrometry, but has been mostly overlooked in the design and development of IMS systems. Ion optics provides insight into particle trajectories, duty cycle, and efficiency of these systems. This paper will outline the role that ion optics can have in the development of IMS systems and introduce the trade space for traditional IMS as well as differential mobility spectroscopy.
General Dynamics ATP (GDATP) and Sionex Corporation (Sionex) are carrying out a cooperative development for a handheld chemical agent detector, being called JUNO, which will have lower false positives, higher sensitivity, and improved interference rejection compared with presently available detectors. This enhanced performance is made possible by the use of a new principle of ion separation called Differential Mobility Spectrometry (DMS). The enhanced selectivity is provided by the field tunable nature of the Sionex differential mobility technology (microDMxTM) which forms the analytical heart of the JUNO system and enables fingerprinting of molecules by characterization of the ionized molecular behavior under multiple electric field conditions. This enhanced selectivity is valuable in addressing not only the traditional list of chemical warfare agents (CWA) but also the substantial list of Toxic Industrial Compounds (TICs) and Toxic Industrial Materials (TIMs) which may be released in warfare or terrorist situations. Experimental results showing the ability of the microDMx to reject interferences, detect and resolve live agents are presented. An additional breakthrough in the technology was realized by operating the device at a reduced pressure of around 0.5 atmospheres. This reduced pressure operation resulted in roughly doubling the spectrometers resolution over what has previously been reported [1]. Advances have also been made in power consumption and packaging leading to a device suitable for portable, handheld, applications. Experimental results illustrating the performance of the microDMx technology employed in JUNO are highlighted.
Ion Mobility Spectroscopy (IMS) is the most widespread detection technique in use by the military for the detection of chemical warfare agents, explosives, and other threat agents. Moreover, its role in homeland security and force protection has expanded due, in part, to its good sensitivity, low power, lightweight, and reasonable cost. With the increased use of IMS systems as continuous monitors, it becomes necessary to develop tools and methodologies to ensure optimal performance over a wide range of conditions and extended periods of time. Namely, instrument calibration is needed to ensure proper sensitivity and to correct for matrix or environmental effects. We have developed methodologies to deal with the semi-quantitative nature of IMS and allow us to generate response curves that allow a gauge of instrument performance and maintenance requirements. This instrumentation communicates to the IMS systems via a software interface that was developed in-house. The software measures system response, logs information to a database, and generates the response curves. This paper will discuss the instrumentation, software, data collected, and initial results from fielded systems.
A novel linear ion trap (LIT) system for protein bio-marker identification that provides significant improvement in sensitivity and dynamic range over current mass spectrometry approaches is being developed. The improvements arise from 1-2 orders of magnitude improvement in ion collection efficiency and 1-2 orders of magnitude improvement in ion storage capacity. These improvements will translate directly into improved sensitivity and dynamic range. The end goal is an instrument capable of identifying low femtomole levels of bio-agent protein markers present in complex mixtures. A unique aspect of the proposed instrument will be the potential for detection and identification of a priori unknowns. This approach is not restricted to searching for targeted agents and can be used to identify unanticipated threats. This effort leverages previous work with three-dimensional ion trap mass spectrometry that has recently been demonstrated to provide the capability for concentration, purification, and identification of protein biomarkers within the ion trap. This effort will take advantage of significant potential improvements in overall performance. This paper will discuss the historical work with three-dimensional ion traps and show preliminary results from the linear ion trap.
While ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) has been used as a portable trace vapor detector, these handheld systems suffer from poor selectivity. Their low resolution makes confident identification of chemical species difficult. One major application for these IMS systems is in Homeland Defense. IMS systems are fielded for the detection of chemical warfare agents, explosives, narcotics, and other hazardous chemicals. Recently, a novel signal processing methodology using wavelet filtering, statistical evaluators, and genetic algorithms was demonstrated to improve sensitivity and specificity of an ion mobility spectrometer. Previous work involved a single (single polarity) IMS cell. Since both positive and negative ions are created in the same environment and a common sample interface is used for the dual IMS system, there is cross talk between the positive and negative cell. Typically, this cross talk provides little information on the identity of the chemical species present. However, using this new methodology, valuable sample information is obtained. Moreover, ion beam modulation has been incorporated to allow for the ion beam to be broken up into discrete packets. The modulation allows the rejection of common background interferents. This paper will present the process of using cell cross talk, ion beam modulation, and application and extension of the signal processing methodology. The application to field instrumentation will also be discussed.
Novel methodology has been developed that simultaneously improves sensitivity and specificity of a low-resolution ion mobility spectroscopy (IMS) sensor. Wavelet transforms have been applied to IMS spectra in order to de-noise and enhance spectral features. Next, trigger metrics of the spectra were derived using a statistical evaluator (SE) and optimized using a genetic algorithm (GA). The combination of wavelets, SE, and GA has been demonstrated to differentiate between background, analyte, interferent, and a binary mixture of analyte and interferent. This results in an overall increase in resolving power. The new system is less sensitive to false positives due to increased selectivity, shows the ability to yield quantitative data at ultra-low concentrations for low level toxicity, has the ability to detect binary mixtures of compounds, and shows great potential in significantly improving chemical warfare detection capabilities under field conditions.
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