Rate of Advancement of Detection Limits in Mass Spectrometry: Is there a Moore’s Law of Mass Spec?

Abstract

Mass spectrometry is a well-established analytical technique for studying the masses of atoms, molecules, or fragments of molecules. One of the key metrics of mass spectrometers is the limit of detection e.g., the minimum amount of signal from an analyte that can be reliably distinguished from noise. Detection limits have improved greatly over the last 30-40 years to the point that nanogram per litre and even picogram per litre detections are commonly reported. ere is however, a di erence between detection limits obtained with a single, pure compound in a pure solvent and those obtained from real life samples/matrixes. Determining a practical detection limit for mass spectrometry is di cult because it depends on multiple factors, such as the compound under test, the matrix, data processing methods and spectrometer type.Here we show the improvements in reported limits of detection on mass spectrometers over time using industry and literature data. e limit of detection for glycine and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane were taken from multiple published articles spanning a period of 45 years. e limits of detection were plotted against the article's year of publication to assess whether the trend in improvement in sensitivity resembles Moore's Law of computing (essentially doubling every two years). e results show that advancements in detection limits in mass spectrometry are close to, but not quite at a rate equivalent to Moore's Law and the improvements in detection limits reported from industry seem to be greater than those reported in the academic literature.

Stoichiometric constraints for detection of EV-borne biomarkers in blood

“…What about the feasibility of detection of protein EV targets? The bulk technologies such as mass spectrometry claim the constant improvement of sensitivity, with LOD and LOQ values hugely dependent on the method used and the sample type, reported to range between upper picogram to sub-femtogram levels [173]. The latter would represent ~0.001 part-per-trillion concentration in 1 mL sample.…”

“…Similar sensitivity was achieved with EV analyses [144], assuming that 38 EVs have total protein content of ~30 fg (according to our previous estimates), and that the targeted protein is representing just a fraction of that total. From a 400 fg protein input, mass spectrometry allows identification of a protein which makes 1% of the total input (~4 fg) [173,176].…”