The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR), has issued a solicitation for a compact mass spectrometer to support its Innovative Safety and Technologies Branch.
This organization is currently conducting research projects dealing with the detection and classification of foodborne pathogens based on Direct Impact Ionization (DII) mass spectrometry (MS), in which rapid sub-species characterization of pathogens is required for timely responses in foodborne poisoning outbreak situations.
In order to make DII MS practical for traceback applications, certain requirements related to spectrum reproducibility and data acquisition speed must be met, namely fast detection and adjustment of bacteria cell concentration.
Technical specifications for the DII MS system include:
- Independent Ion Source
- Replicate spectra acquisition
- Spectral data preprocessing
- Spectra identification through pattern recognition
- Reproducible bacterial identification at sub-species level
- Compact enough to fit into a 3′ wide biosafety hood
- Fast enough to acquire multiple spectra in a relatively short period of time
- Capable of detecting and classifying bacteria on a serovar- and strain-level
Further details are available via Solicitation Number: FDA_15-233-1147833. The response deadline is April 27, 2015.