Analytical
Instruments

Analytical Instruments

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Our patented analytical instrumentation technologies are advancing our nation’s approach to medicine, clean energy production, chemistry, and environmental management, among other applications. The PNNL portfolio includes Structures for Lossless Ion Manipulations (SLIM), a technology 1,000 times faster than current methods that can identify trace differences in samples as small as a single cell. It also includes System for Analysis at the Liquid Vacuum Interface, or SALVI, which enables, for the first-time, imaging of liquid samples in real-time and space by more than one analytical instrument. Both instruments are R&D 100 Award winners recognized for the top 100 technological advances in a given year. We also offer innovations for a variety of analytical instruments, including mass spectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance, and microscopy through methods, systems, and devices that perform highly sensitive detection, accurate identification, and quantification of species across these modalities. Browse the dozens of patented technologies and methods available for licensing.

 

Available Technologies Spotlight

Rapid Virulence Probe for Infectious Bacteria

Rapid detection of bacterial pathogens without the need for culturing or time-consuming and costly genomic methods is evolving as an important goal in...
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PNNL’s patent-pending probe will allow physicians, for the first time, to identify pathogenic bacteria based on virulence-correlated enzyme activity with a rapid and easy fluorescence measurement. (Photo by Andrea Starr | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)

Compressive Sensing

High-resolution analytical instruments—such as in situ transmission electron microscopes (TEM), scanning transmission electron microscopes (STEM) and...
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The Compressive Sensing approach samples sparsely (first image) then restores the image (third image) to close to its original (middle image).

Standards-Free Tools to Identify Small Molecules in Complex Samples

Conventional metabolomics and small molecule identification approaches have demonstrated immense value for disease diagnosis, evaluation of...
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PNNL's tools, such as DarkChem, are highly accurate, comprehensive, and swift approaches for predicting chemical properties and identifying metabolites and other chemicals in biological and environmental samples.

Probes for Function-Based Microbial Sorting

More and more, scientific advancements in energy production, plant nutrition, and bioremediation rely on characterizing microbial communities beyond...
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PNNL's microbial probe is the only technology of its kind that can determine the function of microbes, enzymes, and the like in biological samples, such as air, soil, water, and host-associated, shown here in the human gut.

High-Throughput and Ultra-sensitive Multidimensional Analytical Platform Based on Multiplexed Ion Mobility Spectrometry/Mass Spectrometry

The integration of ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) with mass spectrometry (MS) has recently become a point-of-emphasis for instrument developers...
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The multidimensional analytical platform developed by PNNL increases sensitivity and throughput by integrating fast IMS separation with traditionally slower MS acquisition.

Probe for Analyzing Liquids and Solids in Vacuum Environments

Many samples need to be analyzed in liquid form. However, many analytical devices operate in a vacuum environment, making analysis of liquids ...
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Schematic Illustration of a vacuum compatible liquid Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometer (SIMS) probe, which can also be used for other types of vacuum-based analyses, such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and others.

Orthogonal Ion Injection

In-line approaches to introducing ions to mass spectrometers for analysis can inadvertently result in contamination of downstream components because...
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A new technology directly injects ions into an ion guide through the side of the guide in a direction perpendicular or orthogonal to the direction of the ion flow.

Structures for Lossless Ion Manipulation (SLIM)

Advances in medicine, clean energy, and environmental management are held back by the ability to quickly distinguish the presence, structure, and...
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SLIM is created using readily available circuit boards, making it low cost and simple to assemble.

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