Automatic Mass-Spectrometric Analysis: Preliminary Report on Development of a Novel Mass-Spectrometric System for Biomedical Applications

A mass spectrograph, coupled to automatic sample preparation devices and an electro-optical ion detector/ computer system, capable of detecting many ion species simultaneously, presents a promising new ap-proach to biomedical analysis. It will permit simulta-neous multicomponent analysis of appropriately pre-pared samples and may detect as little as 10-15 g of a single component. This approach offers significant ad-vantages over other methods, including conventional mass spectrometry. Additional Keyphrases: ultramicro-scale multicomponent analysis Although we are in the early phases of our develop-ment program, we think that this brief preliminary report will serve a useful purpose if it encourages readers to share their suggestions and criticisms with us in time to incorporate new inputs into our devel-opment program. The Problem It is generally agreed that the human genome codes for more than 10 000 proteins. These, in turn, generate thousands of other compounds that are in-volved in intermediary metabolism, endocrine con-trol, the function of the nervous system, etc. All o