Re: MIT 3D printed key components of mass-spectrometer

On 08/04/2024 05:47, Jan Panteltje wrote:

Researchers 3D print key components for a point-of-care mass spectrometer
  https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/04/240404113429.htm
pdf:
  https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jasms.3c00409
 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Summary:
Researchers 3D printed a miniature ionizer, a key component of a mass spectrometer. Their device could someday enable an affordable, in-home mass spectrometer for health monitoring.

It is complete nonsense. Making the hard vacuum needed for ions to move freely in mass spectrometry and sample handling to introduce the sample into the unit without losing vacuum are fundamentals that won't go away.
The closest to a quick dirt cheap MS is time of flight laser ablation if your sample is a solid or can be put on one. Liquid samples are really messy and water vapour is the bane of vacuum systems.
Selective ion probes offer a much better alternative for bio samples (I suppose the MIT PR department has to justify its existence somehow).
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Martin Brown