Systems and methods for super mass spectrometry

Abstract

Methods and systems for multi-beam, parallel-beam, deterministic, or super mass spectrometry that include an ion source that produces ions, and two or more ion trapping devices or mass spectrometers, each having an independent sampling inlet. The two or more ion trapping devices or mass spectrometers receive the ions from the ion source via the sampling inlet of each of the ion trapping devices or mass spectrometers such that each sampling inlet provides an ion beam to each corresponding ion trapping device or mass spectrometer.

1 . A mass spectrometry system comprising:
 an ion source that produces ions; and   two or more ion trapping devices or mass spectrometers, each having an independent sampling inlet, the two or more ion trapping devices or mass spectrometers receiving the ions from the ion source via the sampling inlet of each of the ion trapping devices or mass spectrometers,   wherein each sampling inlet provides an ion beam to each corresponding ion trapping device or mass spectrometer.   
     
     
         2 . The mass spectrometry system of  claim 1 , wherein the two or more ion trapping devices or mass spectrometers acquire mass spectrometer data independently of each other, and are not synchronized. 
     
     
         3 . The mass spectrometry system of  claim 1 , wherein one of the two or more ion trapping devices or mass spectrometers provides a higher resolution, higher sensitivity, different scale for a dynamic range, separation based on ion mobility, charge detection, or different tandem mass spectrometry capability compared to others of the two or more ion trapping devices or mass spectrometers of the mass spectrometry system. 
     
     
         4 . The mass spectrometry system of  claim 1 , wherein the two or more ion trapping devices or mass spectrometers are in communication with each other. 
     
     
         5 . The mass spectrometry system of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the two or more ion trapping devices or mass spectrometers are in communication with each other,   wherein, a first ion trapping device or mass spectrometer acquires data,   wherein the acquired data is processed to generate data acquisition parameters, and   wherein the generated data acquisition parameters are distributed to other ion trapping devices or mass spectrometers to acquire data based on the generated data acquisition parameters.   
     
     
         6 . The mass spectrometry system of  claim 1 , 
 wherein each ion trapping device or mass spectrometer acquires data and transmits the acquired data to a central processing unit,   wherein the central processing unit receives the transmitted data, and generates a data set based on the received data from each ion trapping device or mass spectrometer, and   wherein the data set includes any combination of molecular masses of measured compounds, fragments of measured compounds, mass to charge ratios of measured compounds, mass to charge ratios of fragments of measured compounds, elution times of measured compounds, signal intensities of measured compounds, relative or absolute abundance of measured compounds, intensity ratio of measured compounds, ion mobilities of measured compounds, or structural information of measured compounds.   
     
     
         7 . The mass spectrometry system of  claim 1 , wherein the two or more ion trapping devices or mass spectrometers are synchronized and process, in parallel, the received ions simultaneously or with a delay. 
     
     
         8 . The mass spectrometry system of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the two or more ion trapping devices or mass spectrometers are synchronized and process the received ions with a time delay with respect to each other,   wherein the time delay is a cycle time of the mass spectrometry system,   wherein the process includes accumulating the ions for a predetermined time period (accumulation time) and analyzing the accumulated ions at an end of the predetermined time period,   wherein a first ion trapping device or mass spectrometer starts accumulating the ions at a first point in time (T1) for the predetermined time period (accumulation time) and a second ion trapping device or mass spectrometer starts accumulating the ions at a second point in time (T2) later than the first point in time (T1) for the predetermined time period (accumulation time),   wherein the predetermined time period (accumulation time) is greater than the time delay (T2-T1), the time delay (T2-T1) being a duration of time between the first point in time (T1) and the second point in time (T2), and   wherein the time delay, which is the cycle time of the mass spectrometry system, and the predetermined time period, which is the accumulation time of each ion trapping device or mass spectrometer, are adjustable independently,.   
     
     
         9 . The mass spectrometry system of  claim 8 ,
 wherein the predetermined time period (accumulation time) of the mass spectrometry system is independently adjusted to measure compounds by the mass spectrometry system with a higher sensitivity compared to same measurements performed by each of the two or more ion trapping devices or mass spectrometers of the mass spectrometry system, and   wherein the cycle time of the mass spectrometry system is independently adjusted to acquire a predetermined number of data points across a chromatographic peak irrespective of the predetermined time period (accumulation time).   
     
     
         10 . The mass spectrometry system of  claim 1 ,
 wherein one of the two or more ion trapping devices or mass spectrometers first measures m/z values and signal intensities via a survey scan,   wherein the measured m/z values are grouped based on their signal intensities, each group including m/z values that their corresponding signal intensities are within a predetermined range, and   wherein each group is assigned to another of the ion trapping devices or mass spectrometers to only measure the assigned m/z values in the assigned group.   
     
     
         11 . The mass spectrometry system of  claim 10 ,
 wherein each predetermined range has a lower value and a higher value that defines the range,   wherein a lower value of a first range is lower than a higher value of a second range such that the first range overlaps the second range,   wherein signal intensities of m/z values that reside in the overlapping range are measured by both a first ion trapping device or mass spectrometer measuring the first range and a second ion trapping device or mass spectrometer measuring the second range,   wherein the measurements of the signal intensities in the overlapping range are used to generate a calibration ratio, and   wherein the signal intensity measurements of the first ion trapping device or mass spectrometer and the signal intensity measurements of the second ion trapping device or mass spectrometer that are not in the overlapping range are normalized based on the calibration ratio.   
     
     
         12 . The mass spectrometry system of  claim 1 , wherein each of the two or more ion trapping devices or mass spectrometers are tuned to measure a predefined dynamic range and ignores any measurement that is not within the predefined dynamic range. 
     
     
         13 . The mass spectrometry system of  claim 1 , wherein each of the two or more ion trapping devices or mass spectrometers acquire data for N most abundant peaks, next N most abundant peaks,, N being an integer number between 1 and 100. 
     
     
         14 . The mass spectrometry system of  claim 1 , wherein a first number of the two or more ion trapping devices or mass spectrometers use DIA and a second number of mass spectrometers use DDA method to acquire data. 
     
     
         15 . The mass spectrometry system of  claim 1 , wherein the ions are simultaneously transferred to the two or more ion trapping devices or mass spectrometers via rigid or flexible ion guides downstream the sampling inlet. 
     
     
         16 . The mass spectrometry system of  claim 1 , wherein a set of instructions are distributed to the two or more ion trapping devices or mass spectrometers, the set of instruction including information about modes of operation, m/z range, accumulation times, or pre-defined parameters for operating the two or more ion trapping devices or mass spectrometers in a network. 
     
     
         17 . The mass spectrometry system of  claim 1 , wherein the two or more ion trapping devices or mass spectrometers are grouped into one or more clusters and each cluster is operated based on a pre-defined set of parameters. 
     
     
         18 . The mass spectrometry system of  claim 1 , wherein one of the two or more ion trapping devices or mass spectrometers acquires metabolomics data or low mass range data and another of two or more ion trapping devices or mass spectrometers acquires proteomics data or high mass range data. 
     
     
         19 . The mass spectrometry system of  claim 1 , wherein one of the two or more ion trapping devices or mass spectrometers acquires data in positive ion mode and another of two or more ion trapping devices or mass spectrometers acquires data in negative ion mode. 
     
     
         20 . A mass spectrometry system comprising:
 an ion source that is configured to produce a plurality of ion beams,   wherein each ion beam is provided to a separate mass spectrometer from a plurality of mass spectrometers for mass spectrometry analysis.   
     
     
         21 . The mass spectrometry system of  claim 20 , wherein the ion source is an electrospray ion source or a multi-nozzle electrospray ion source. 
     
     
         22 . The mass spectrometry system of  claim 20 , wherein the plurality of mass spectrometers are in communication with each other or interact with each other or are synchronized with each other. 
     
     
         23 . The mass spectrometry system of  claim 20 , wherein a result of mass spectrometry analysis is generated by combining measurements of the plurality of mass spectrometers.