During the past a few years, several approaches have been developed in our laboratory to integrate and speed up the chromatographic separation and sample extraction steps. High-speed separations using monolithic columns, staggered separations, parallel separations with multiplexed MS detection, and their combinations have been developed to speed up the separation. To match this increased separation speed, several integrated sample extraction techniques have been developed including on-line high-flow extraction in both a single and a four-way parallel mode, and a fully automated parallel sample preparation platform using a track robot interfaced to a liquid handler. As a result of these integrated separation and extraction techniques, a throughput up to 30 seconds per sample from plasma has been achieved with effective solid phase extraction and high-resolution gradient separation on 10-cm-long columns. The development and applications of these new systems will be presented with an emphasis on the challenges and some of our own unique solutions.
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Last Updated Tuesday, October 16, 2001 9:27:28 PM