Method development and applications of SWATH in Forensic Toxicology?

by | Bioclinical, Forensics, Mass Spectrometry

An insight into the opportunities and pitfalls during method development and applications of SWATH DIA HRMS methods in forensic toxicology. Register to view the webinar...

BlogImage_Swath.pngThe market for illegal and controlled substances is subject to fast and dynamic changes. The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) has reported on fast increasing numbers of new psychoactive substances (NPS), such as synthetic cannabinoids, piperazines, cathinones, opioids and benzodiazepines during the last years. Their detection requires fast and flexible analytical methods especially with reference material often not available. Up to date, liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) techniques with information-dependent acquisition (IDA) approaches are most often used for screening purposes in forensic toxicology. Unfortunately, those targeted strategies are not suitable for a general unknown or systematic toxicological analysis (GUA/STA). However, latest instrument developments such as affordable high resolution mass spectrometers (HRMS; e.g., Q-ToF instruments) and improvements of acquisition methods offer new opportunities for screening and quantitation in one run (QUAL/QUAN).


A data independent method (DIA), namely sequential window acquisition of all theoretical fragment-ion spectra (SWATH), which uses Q1 windows of 20-35 Da, for example, for data-independent acquisition, was systematically investigated for its suitability for simultaneous screening and quantitation purposes in forensic toxicology.

This webinar, produced in collaboration with SCIEX, offers an insight into the opportunities and pitfalls during method development and applications of SWATH DIA HRMS methods in forensic toxicology.

When: 25 July, 2017
Start Time: 07.00 PDT / 10.00 EDT / 15.00 BST / 16.00 CEST
Presenter: Michael Potzsch (University of Zurich, Switzerland)

By attending this webinar you will learn...

  • that the X500R QTOF is a solution for unknown drug screening
  • how SWATH is a becoming a very powerful workflow in the detection of new psychoactive substances.

Published  Jul 6, 2017

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