| Abstract
| - The design and operation of an arrayed time-of-flight(TOF) mass spectrometer for simultaneous data acquisition from multiple samples is described. Versions of theinstrument employ sets of two or four linear or reflectronmass analyzers. They are housed in the same vacuumchamber and utilize the same laser for ion desorption.Instrument performance is illustrated in the example ofa two-linear-mass-analyzer array using MALDI-MS formixtures of commercially available proteins as well asintact microorganisms. We also describe the propertiesof a novel short delay time (<170 ns) pulsed extractionmethod for linear TOF analyzers. This configuration allowsuniform resolution improvements to be achieved in a widem/z range. In addition, we present multiplexed samplepreparation methods, using different reagents prior tomass analysis in the arrayed system, to increase theoverall sensitivity of the MS method and to allow widerand more efficient detection across the entire range ofpotentially hazardous agents. In addition to the multifoldincrease in data collection rates, arrayed TOF-MS configurations provide a high degree of redundancy, criticalfor rapid, high confidence agent identification as well asfor reduction in false alarm rates.
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