DEVELOPMENT OF AN ADVANCED MINIATURIZED MASS SPECTROMETER FOR RAPID RESPONSE CHEMICAL/BIOLOGICAL WARFARE AGENT DETECTION

ADAPTION OF A MINATURZED MASS SPECTROMETER TO NEAR-INSTANTANEOUS DETECTION OF BW AND CW AGENTS IS PROPOSED AS AN EARLY WARNING AND MONITORING DEVICE FOR USE IN DEEP BASES OR IN OTHER SETTINGS THAT MAY NEED SUCH PROTECTION. THE TECHNOLOGY UPON WHICH THIS DEVELOP MENT IS BASED IS DERIVED FROM THE COMPACT, LIGHTWEIGHT, RUGGED AND HIGHLY AUTOMATED GAS CHROMATOGRAPH/MASS SPECTROMETER THAT WAS DEVELOP-ED BY NASA AND FLOWN SUCCESSFULLY ON THE TWO VIKING MARS LANDER MISSIONS. IN THIS PHASE I EFFORT, THE FEASIBILITY OF REMOVING THE MS AND PERFORMING DIRECT MS DETECTIONS WILL BE DETERMINED. IN ORDER TO IMPROVE THE UNAMBIGUOUS DETECTION OF COMPOUNDS OF INTEREST, TWO OPTIONS WILL BE EVALUATED; (1) DIRECT MS WITH EOID DETECTION AND COMPUTER-AIDED CHEMICAL COMPOUND SIGNATURE MATCHING; AND (2) TANDEM MS/MS WITH SELECTED ION MONITORING OF PRIMARY MOLECULAR IONS IN THE FIRST STAGE AND DETAILED CONFIRMATION OF THE TARGET COMPOUNDS BY MATCHING DAUGHTER ION DETECTION FROM THE SECOND STAGE. DETECTION OF COMPOUNDS THAT SIMULATE CW AGENTS WILL BE DEMONSTRATED ON A BREADBOARD MS SYSTEM.