Synchronized ion modification
AssigneeSmiths Detection-Watford Limited
InventorsStephen J. Taylor, Jonathan R. Atkinson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Synchronized ion modification systems and techniques are described. An ion modifier can be used to modify a portion of ions that enter a drift chamber via a gate that controls entry of the ions to the drift chamber. A controller that is communicatively coupled to the ion modifier is configured to control the ion modifier to select a portion of the ion to be modified. In embodiments, the controller selects the portion based on a detector's previous response to other ions that are formed from a sample from which the ions were formed. The other ions, for example, correspond to ions that are associated with a peak in previous operation of a spectrometer.
Claims29
A spectrometer comprising:
- an ion modifier disposed in a drift chamber that has a gate that is configured to control entry of ions to the drift chamber, the ion modifier being configured to modify a portion of the ions that enter the drift chamber;
- and
- a controller, communicatively coupled to the ion modifier, to control operation of the ion modifier to select a portion of ions formed from a sample, and to prevent other ions from passing toward a detector, wherein the controller is configured to synchronize operation of the ion modifier with opening of the gate to select the portion of ions to be modified,
- wherein the controller is configured to control operation of the ion modifier to select the portion of the ions based on a previous response of the detector.
An ion mobility spectrometer comprising:
- a gate configured to control entry of ions to a drift chamber, the gate disposed on an end of the drift chamber generally opposite a detector;
- an ion modifier disposed between the gate and the detector so the ions, respectively, separate between the gate and the ion modifier based on the ions' ion mobility;
- and
- a controller, coupled to the ion modifier, the controller configured to synchronize operation of the ion modifier so fragments that result from operation of the ion modifier are associated with a portion of the ions based on ion mobility, and wherein the controller is further configured to time operation of the ion modifier to prevent ions that are not in the portion from passing to the detector,
- wherein the controller is configured to control operation of the ion modifier to select the portion of the ions based on a previous response of the detector.
A method comprising:
- separating ions in a drift chamber based on ion mobility;
- fragmenting a portion of the ions, said ions in the portion having substantially similar ion mobilities;
- and
- separating fragments that are ionized, respectively, based on said fragment's ion mobility;
- and
- synchronizing operation of a gate and an ion modifier to prevent at least some other ions that are not in the portion from passing toward the detector,
- wherein the method is performed responsive to non-identification of other ions corresponding to the portion during previous operation of a spectrometer.
One or more computer-readable media comprising instructions, that responsive to being executed by a computing system, cause the computing system to:
- cause an ion modifier, disposed in a drift chamber between a gate and a detector, to modify ions that correspond to other ions that were ambiguously identified during previous operation of the detector;
- identify molecules included in a sample of interest based on ion mobilities associated with fragments that result from the ion modifier modifying the ions formed from the molecules;
- and
- synchronize operation of the gate and the ion modifier to select a portion of the ions to be modified,
- wherein the method is performed responsive to non-identification of other ions corresponding to the portion during previous operation of a device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.