Realizing the potential of LC-MS
What started as a technology used primarily in research laboratories has grown into a widely used solution found throughout many clinical laboratories. Over the past several decades, liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS) has evolved rapidly, and now has applications across endocrinology, pharmacology, toxicology, newborn screening, therapeutic drug monitoring, and many other areas of laboratory medicine.
LC-MS has grown particularly popular for toxicology confirmation testing due in large part to the many advantages it can deliver over alternative methods. While immunoassay screening has limitations, such as only detecting the presence of a drug class and not the individual drug, LC-MS can measure a wide range of parameters, providing labs valuable flexibility and versatility. Because LC-MS can be used alone for definitive toxicology screening or as a confirmatory method, it is a good option for toxicology testing and many other clinical applications.
By combining the separating power of liquid chromatography with the detection abilities of mass spectrometry, LC-MS provides a wealth of advantages:
High selectivity, sensitivity and specificity
Broad applicability and versatility
Efficiency
New automated LC-MS solutions available
LC-MS has become widespread thanks to the capabilities of modern LC-MS systems. New systems have demonstrated continuous improvements in speed, automation and simplicity. Some of the advances in technology include higher MS resolution, increased quantitative accuracy, and information science for appropriate data processingi. There are also a greater number of published protocols and FDA-approved kits available today.
While more affordable systems have become available in recent years, LC-MS can still represent a fairly high upfront investment. However, LC-MS can be a cost-effective solution that delivers a solid return on investment. LC-MS reagents tend to be less expensive than other assaysii. Another value of LC-MS is that it can enable labs to grow business by bringing new revenue streams in-house and adding outreach programs. For example, insourcing LC-MS toxicology confirmation testing can deliver clinical value to help drive a big ROI, including faster result turnaround time and reductions in length of stay and readmission rates.
Laboratories can benefit by implementing ready-made LC-MS solutions. In fact, Cardinal Health has partnered with MedTest Dx to provide a new solution to expedite toxicology confirmation validations and go live. This unique solution includes LC-MS set up and training, method installation, procedure design, and ready-to-use calibrators and controls.
Interested in LC-MS for your lab? Learn more about the MedTest Dx solution available from Cardinal Health »
i https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0163725817303042
ii https://www.msacl.org/presenter_slides/2018_US_deborah.french_82527_slides.pdf