Replacing fragmented, manual lab workflows with sample-to-result automation benefits patients, labs and health systems
Mass spectrometry is the gold standard for diagnostic insights. It’s highly accurate, sensitive and specific. But despite the enormous potential to transform diagnostic care, hospitals and labs generally consider mass spectrometry a niche capability.
The technology hasn’t yet been embedded in routine care because the instruments are highly complex. Workflows require highly specialised staff with deep technical expertise. This creates a significant talent barrier, preventing many labs from adopting the technology for routine diagnostics.
Software, hardware, reagents, and data systems are often poorly connected. There is little automation across the full workflow; results usually require manual review and expert interpretation.
A major part of this fragmentation comes from vendor sprawl. There is no “total solution provider” in the traditional model. A single lab may have to deal with up to seven different suppliers to source everything from solvents and columns to analysers and software.
Because of this, labs are forced into batch processing. Samples are collected, prepared, run together, reviewed manually, and then released. So turnaround times are lengthy, which makes urgent or same-day testing difficult. At the same time, consistency between labs is weak because each site has its own version of the process.
The vision: mass spectrometry as core infrastructure
To reach its full potential, mass spectrometry should behave like other core lab systems. That means moving away from the specialisation model to a standardised industrial model featuring3:
🔵Fully automated, sample-to-result workflows.
🔵24/7 reliability with continuous, random-access testing rather than batch mode.
🔵Vendor-validated reagents and direct integration with laboratory information systems.
Ultimately, the vision is complete integration: a platform where clinical chemistry, immunochemistry, and mass spectrometry sit side-by-side. This would allow labs to run a comprehensive diagnostic panel — such as screening for secondary hypertension — from a single patient tube in a single run, significantly reducing patient blood volume and handling time.
Efficiency
Unlike traditional mass spectrometry, a fully integrated, sample-to-result approach — from preparation and purification, to detection and processing, to validation and reporting — doesn’t require specialist expertise. Operators load samples as they arrive. The system then automates the entire workflow without the need to wait for a full batch, freeing up lab staff capacity and giving patients the answers they need earlier in their health journey.
Consistency
Labs’ individual methods, calibration model, and validation process make results hard to compare across institutions, and even across instruments — increasing the risk of inconsistencies that can lead to confusion in patient records. If a patient moves between hospitals, their results might change simply because the testing method has changed. It’s a fundamental challenge of traditional mass spectrometry.
But with a fully integrated approach, results are comparable. A fully integrated approach combines standardised reagents, standardised calibration, traceability to reference methods and factory-validated performance to provide consistently accurate insights at scale.
Modern mass spectrometry benefits patients, clinicians and health systems
The outcome for patients is clear: turnaround times are shorter. That means faster diagnosis, dose adjustments and response to toxic exposure.
And with improved standardisation, patients and their healthcare professionals can be more confident in the results1. Clinicians can make the right treatment decisions earlier, potentially improving the long-term prognosis. All of which benefits not only patients themselves, but the entire health system.
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