Analytical scaling of Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer for Point of Care Applications

Abstract

Abstract The best way to combat a disease is its early detection. A low-cost portable point of care (POC) device is required for early disease detection. A mass spectrometer (MS) is a golden analytical technique to diagnose many diseases. Conventional mass spectrometers are bulky and costly and limited to expensive laboratory setups. In the present paper, a POC-type quadrupole mass spectrometer (QMS) system is proposed for the early detection of diseases. The main component of QMS that makes it bulky and costly is the vacuum system. The length of the quadrupole filter determines its resolution, and the vacuum level is a function of its length. Hence, both length and vacuum levels are optimized without compromising resolution. The size of the quadrupole rods is reduced to 26 mm at 0.1 pascal pressure for portable applications. This optimized QMF is designed and simulated in COMSOL Multiphysics. The system's vacuum level is designed so that a single rotary pump can serve the purpose without any turbopump. A closed-form expression for mass resolution, pressure, and frequency is also derived.