PALO ALTO, Calif., Aug. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Based on its recent analysis of
the analytical instrumentation and services market for the life sciences
industry, Frost & Sullivan recognizes Waters Corporation with the 2008 North
American Frost & Sullivan Award for Product Innovation of the Year. This is
for its breakthrough SYNAPT(TM) High Definition Mass Spectrometry(TM)
(HDMS(TM)) system, the first commercial instrument that combines ion mobility
(IMS) based measurements and separations with high resolution tandem mass
spectrometry.
Waters develops a number of high-performance analytical solutions,
including liquid chromatographs and related chemistries, mass spectrometers,
and laboratory informatics that are used by scientists to separate and
identify chemical compounds for a wide range of life sciences applications. In
2007, the company had about 5,000 employees and generated revenues exceeding
$1.4 billion worldwide.
'Introduced in June 2006, the SYNAPT HDMS system uses patented Triwave(TM)
technology to integrate high-efficiency ion mobility within a quadrupole,
time-of flight geometry mass spectrometer,' says Frost & Sullivan Industry
Manager Jessy Cavazos. 'This unique combination of technologies enables
scientists to differentiate samples by their size, shape and charge, as well
as mass, which has enabled the separation, detection and characterization of
components not possible with conventional mass spectrometry.'
SYNAPT HDMS was designed for researchers working at the boundaries of
conventional mass spectrometry who need to further characterize and define
their samples. Prior to the introduction of the SYNAPT HDMS, research in this
area was confined to a limited number of academic groups who used 'home-built'
instruments. The additional dimension of sample separation afforded by ion
mobility enables the extraction of more useful information from a given
experiment in a wide range of application areas.
The Waters SYNAPT HDMS system was designed with the end-user in mind. The
system's novel separation capability has fueled demand from both academic and
commercial segments. For example, academicians studying structural biology
research who are challenged with the dynamic nature of living cells and
interaction of molecules within those cells embrace SYNAPT HDMS' ability to
differentiate and measure molecular conformations (shapes).
Additionally, the system provides the power to further separate mixtures,
enhance detection limits by removing background noise and interferences, and
extract more information from fragmentation studies.
