Mass Spectrometry Analysis for Clinical Applications: A Review

Abstract

Mass spectrometry (MS) has become an attractive analytical method in clinical analysis due to its comprehensive advantages of high sensitivity, high specificity and high throughput. Separation techniques coupled MS detection (e.g., LC-MS/MS) have shown unique advantages over immunoassay and have developed as golden criterion for many clinical applications. This review summarizes the characteristics and applications of MS, and emphasizes the high efficiency of MS in clinical research. In addition, this review also put forward further prospects for the future of mass spectrometry technology, including the introduction of miniature MS instruments, point-of-care detection and high-throughput analysis, to achieve better development of MS technology in various fields of clinical application. Moreover, as ambient ionization mass spectrometry (AIMS) requires little or no sample pretreatment and improves the flux of MS, this review also summarizes its potential applications in clinic.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Mass spectrometry
• ambient ionization mass spectrometry
• application
• clinical research

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

There are no data association with this publication.

Additional information

Funding

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China through the Grant [No. 22074026].