Bruker Daltonics Launches New APOLLO™ II ESI – MALDI Dual Source for apex®-Qe Fourier Transform Mass Spectrometer (FTMS)

At Pittcon 2006, Bruker Daltonics announced the new APOLLO™ II Dual Source for its apex® line of hybrid Q-q-FTMS mass spectrometers.

The design of the new APOLLO II Dual Source is based on a wide aperture two-stage ion funnel with simultaneous integration of a MALDI and an ESI source. This unique design makes switching between ESI and MALDI instantaneous and trivial, while providing superior sensitivity for both modes of FTMS operation. The ESI and MALDI sources can even be operated simultaneously, enabling novel approaches to internal calibration.

The apex-Qe is an easy-to-use, robust FTMS system for ultra-high performance life-science mass spectrometry. Its FTMS/MS sensitivity, resolution and mass accuracy are unparalleled. With the introduction of the APOLLO II Dual Source, Bruker Daltonics has now combined the high sensitivity performance of the ion funnel with the versatility and convenience of a dual ESI and MALDI source.

Under ESI operation, the new source provides all the sensitivity improvements of the previously launched APOLLO II ESI source, specifically attomole levels of detection for on-column loading. This also translates into an overall increase in the speed of analysis as the FTMS analyzer can be filled more quickly with the high flux source.

For MALDI, the APOLLO II Dual Source supports the industry standard MTP format with options of 96 and 384 spot targets, including the popular AnchorChip™ family of targets. The superior sensitivity performance of the MALDI source (attomole level sample loading) is facilitated by more efficient ion cooling, which has the additional benefit of enabling the use of a wider variety of matrices that can be tailored to specific applications.

“It’s going to have tremendous applications in improving mass accuracy and aiding proteomics research, especially in shotgun proteomics,” said Dr. Jon Amster, Professor of Chemistry at the University of Georgia. The Amster Research Group in the Department of Chemistry uses the apex-Qe in their laboratory for the investigation of complex biological samples.