A 3D-printed miniaturized quadrupole mass filter. Credit: Luis Fernando Velásquez-García, Colin Eckhoff, et al
MIT researchers have developed a novel method to 3D print quadrupole mass filters for mass spectrometers. The quadrupole is suitable for numerous mass spectrometers and can be produced more efficiently and at a lower cost than traditional manufacturing techniques.
Mass spectrometers are widely used in laboratories throughout the world however they are bulky, expensive, and present stability and durability challenges limiting them from more widespread deployment. By utilizing additive manufacturing, MIT researchers produced one of the core components for mass spectrometers, the mass filter, at a fraction of the cost and time required by traditional manufacturing techniques. Traditional quadrupoles can cost more than $100,000 and take weeks to produce in many cases, the miniaturized version developed by the researchers can be made in hours for a total cost of a few dollars.
“We are not the first ones to try to do this. But we are the first ones who succeeded at doing this. There are other miniaturized quadrupole filters, but they are not comparable with professional-grade mass filters. There are a lot of possibilities for this hardware if the size and cost could be smaller without adversely affecting the performance,” said Velásquez-García, principal research scientist in MIT’s Microsystems Technology Laboratories (MTL).
The research, published in Advanced Science, demonstrates the balance between creating a miniaturized quadrupole and maintaining the accuracy and precision synonymous with mass spectrometry. Traditional quadrupoles are comprised of four metallic rods surrounding a central axis which often weigh several kilograms. While fairly simple in design, simply making the quadrupole smaller would typically introduce error in the manufacturing process while making analysis less sensitive due to the reduced number of ions collected.
“You can’t make quadrupoles arbitrarily smaller — there is a tradeoff,” Velásquez-García added.
Utilizing a metal film-coated glass-ceramic resin rod design to reduce the size and weight of the rods, the researchers obtained similar precision to that of commercially available quadrupoles.
“Our vision is to make a mass spectrometer where all the key components can be 3D printed, contributing to a device with much less weight and cost without sacrificing performance. There is still a lot of work to do, but this is a great start,” said Velásquez-Garcia.