AB Sciex, a global leader in life science analytical technologies, announced collaboration with Arup Laboratories, a major clinical reference laboratory in the United States, to develop new test methods that clinical research laboratories around the world can adopt to improve hormone analysis. Arup researchers are using AB Sciex QTRAP 5500 mass spectrometry technology to obtain results that were previously unavailable to clinical researchers.

This advancement is expected to help deliver better answers that can be used to improve healthcare. AB Sciex is exhibiting QTRAP technology at Mass Spectrometry Applications for the Clinical Laboratory (MSACL) conference in San Diego this week.

This collaboration with a leading clinical reference laboratory is intended to help drive the industry-wide move toward increasingly using mass spectrometry to conduct hormone analysis. Because many hormones exist in extremely low abundance, immunoassay-based approaches are often plagued by interferences, preventing them from obtaining accurate measurements. To address this challenge, Arup turned to QTRAP technology to obtain a higher level of sensitivity, which is needed to perform the most accurate quantitation of low abundant hormones, especially free hormones, while confirming the results with qualitative capabilities within the same system.

AB Sciex provides the highest sensitivity instrumentation on the market as part of a simple, four-step workflow for mass spectrometry-based clinical research. The AB Sciex QTRAP 5500 System combines high sensitivity and speed on a platform that integrates quantitative and qualitative analysis, representing a better type of triple quadrupole. In collaboration with AB Sciex scientists, Arup researchers are using this technology to develop new test methods that AB Sciex plans to turn into pre-configured iMethod Tests available for easy download into AB Sciex Cliquid Software, which is a software application that significantly simplifies the use of advanced mass spectrometry technology for clinical research.

Alan Rockwood, PhD, scientific director of the Mass Spectrometry Lab at Arup Laboratories “Our mission in the mass spectrometry lab of Arup is to push the limits of quantitation as low as we can, so we can deliver better results for clinical research. Our collaboration with AB Sciex, whose scientists have taken the time to understand our stringent requirements, gives us access to mass spectrometry technology that helps us to fulfil our purpose. By providing more accurate answers than previously possible, we are supporting efforts to improve medical care.”

Joe Anacleto, vice president and General Manager of the Applied Markets and Clinical Research Business, AB Sciex “The shift to mass spectrometry-based clinical research continues to rapidly accelerate. To have a leading clinical reference laboratory such as Arup Laboratories utilize QTRAP technology for method development reinforces the importance of high sensitivity that AB Sciex technology delivers. By being a trusted partner with clinical researchers, AB Sciex is able to make it easier for laboratories to adopt mass spectrometry and obtain better answers.”

AB Sciex is a global leader in the development of life science analytical technologies that help answer complex scientific challenges and also provides scientific instrumentation, software and services used to discover new drugs, advance medical science and protect the food supply and the environment.