Professor Michel J. Bertrand of the Université de Montréal chemistry department has designed a testing apparatus that may hold the answer to major current public security needs: a mass spectrometer that can identify almost any chemical or biological substance in less than two minutes. It's a research area where several international efforts have come up against problems. Bertrand, who started doing fundamental research into mass spectrometry eight years ago, appears to have found the key. His process has now been marketed by DEPHY Technologies, a Montreal-based firm that's a direct offshoot of Bertrand's own research group.

"The process is extremely simple," the UdeM researcher explains. "The product to be analyzed is introduced into a vacuum chamber, where it is broken down under high temperature. A mass spectrometer then scans the fragments and draws the molecular fingerprint of that product." After analysis, the device prints out the "fingerprint" and a signal light indicates whether the product is dangerous or harmless. Key to Bertrand's successful process is vacuum pyrolysis, a high-temperature technique that causes decomposition but prevents combustion and contamination. Even at temperatures over 1,000° C, all the heat does is rupture the chemical bonds between various elements of the chemical or biological substance. The "fingerprint" is obtained using atomic "biomarkers" from various sources, such as DNA for a biological product, or molecular and atomic components for a chemical substance. The device's greatest advantage is that it works equally well detecting the presence of E. coli bacteria in water, Bacillus anthracis (anthrax) in powder - or any chemical product, whether a solid, liquid or gas.

The apparatus, which is marketed under the name Py-MAB-Tof, was perfected after discussions with researchers from the French army. Then the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) expressed interested in its potential for use in emergency preparedness scenarios.

"Back in 1998, the armed forces were worried about bioterrorist attacks, but they had no reliable tools for fast identification of various possible contaminants," says Professor Bertrand. "Biological methods are too narrowly focused and require cultures that can take a long time, while physical methods like Py-MAB-Tof have the advantage that they're both fast and universal. They apply to biotoxins and chemical poisons alike."

Researcher: Michel Bertrand
Phone: (514) 343-7555
Funding: Programme Synergie, Gouvernement du Québec, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)