Hyphenated techniques: The next generation of field-portable analytical instruments?

The first field-portable (i.e., transportable) hyphenated analytical instruments, including commercially available MS/MS and GC/MS systems as well as a specially built GC/MS{sup n} introduced during the past seven years. Since then further miniaturization and ruggedization of hyphenated systems by several laboratories has resulted in fully man-portable (backpack and briefcase style) GC/MS systems and a hand portable GC/IMS prototype. The main pitfall to be avoided in developing hyphenated, field portable system is incompatibility between the coupled techniques. Carefully designed hyphenated techniques incorporating compatible methods such as GC and MS can provide dramatic increases in resolution and chemical specificity which may be traded for speed or sensitivity gains, if needed. Novel developments currently underway in the laboratory include roving GC/MS platforms, personalized GC/IMS devices, high speed GC/GC methods and, last but not least, Virtual Reality techniques.