Eastern Analytical Symposium & Exposition 2022 Abstract Book

Significance of the topic

Analytical methods underpin advancing science, public-health surveillance, product quality and forensic investigations. The 2022 Eastern Analytical Symposium abstracts showcase cross-disciplinary innovation in measurement science — from high-sensitivity biosensors and portable spectrometers to advanced chromatography, mass spectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance and chemometric/machine-learning approaches. These developments target real-world needs: faster, greener, more robust assays; non-destructive forensic screening; biologics and nucleic-acid therapeutic characterization; environmental monitoring (PFAS, produced water, microplastics); and higher-throughput workflows for drug development and quality control.

Study objectives and overview

The collection presents short reports on instrument and method development, application case studies, and computational tools. Major objectives recurring across sessions include:

• Increase analytical sensitivity and selectivity for low-abundance targets (biomarkers, PFAS, drug impurities, host-cell proteins).
• Make methods faster, higher throughput and resource-efficient (capillary LC, trapping micro-LC, automated extraction, online SPE).
• Integrate machine learning and chemometrics to extract complex signals from spectroscopic and spectrometric data (A-TEEM, Raman, NMR, ion mobility).
• Develop portable and user-friendly technologies for field and on-scene use (portable Raman, NIR, handheld MS variants, PlanktoScope citizen oceanography).
• Address regulatory and forensic needs for reliable, non-destructive identification (body fluids, counterfeit pharmaceuticals, gunshot residues).

Methodology and instrumentation

The abstracts describe a wide range of experimental approaches and workflows; recurring methodological themes are:

• Chromatography: reversed-phase LC, HILIC, ion-exchange, orthogonal SPE, 1D and 2D LC, trapping micro-LC, preparative scaling and LC method migration simulation.
• Mass spectrometry: high-resolution QTOF, SLIM/HR ion mobility, trapped-ion-mobility (TIMS)-TOF, triple-quadrupole MS/MS (QQQ), Coulometric-MS for absolute protein quantitation, direct analysis techniques (DART, Py-GC-MS), IR-MALDESI imaging.
• Spectroscopy and microscopy: Raman and SERS, FT‑IR, NIR, A-TEEM (absorbance-transmittance excitation-emission matrix), pump–probe microscopy, confocal and fluorescence microscopy, SEM/EDS, XPS.
• NMR: advanced pulse sequences, deep learning for spectral processing and autonomous analysis, covariance and correlation mapping, solid-state and hyperpolarization studies.
• Electrochemistry and biosensors: light-addressable electroanalysis (LAES), bipolar electrode arrays, dielectrophoretic single-cell capture, electrochemical preconcentration with magnetic beads, molecularly-enabled electrochemical biosensors.
• Data science and ML: deep neural networks for spectral decoupling and kinetics, multiblock data fusion for A-TEEM, PCA/PLS-DA and other chemometric classifiers, model-selection tools and simulation-enabled method migration.

Instrumentation used (representative list from abstracts)

• High-resolution mass spectrometers: Q‑TOF, Orbitrap (Exploris), SLIM-QTOF, TIMS‑TOF.
• Triple quadrupole MS/MS platforms: LC‑QQQ instruments for targeted assays.
• Chromatography platforms: UHPLC, capillary LC systems, Chronos on-line SPE units, trapping micro‑LC, preparative fraction collectors.
• Optical spectrometers: portable Raman and NIR units, ASD FieldSpec Vis‑NIR, A‑TEEM systems, pump–probe microscopes.
• Imaging and surface analytics: SEM/EDS, XPS, confocal Raman microscopes, IR‑MALDESI MSI.
• DART and pyrolysis‑GC‑MS accessories for rapid polymer and microplastic profiling.
• Electrochemical platforms: SECCM, light-addressable semiconductor electrodes, dual‑electrospray interfaces and miniaturized HV control.

Main results and discussion

Key technical and application outcomes reported across the abstracts include:

• Biosensors and diagnostics: metalloimmunoassays with magnetic/Ag nanoparticle labels detected NT-proBNP at clinically relevant picomolar levels in <10 min; electrochemical and synthetic-biology enabled biosensors for pollutant and pathogen detection showed sub‑micromolar sensitivity.
• Chromatography advances: novel column surface chemistries (HPS, charged-surface phenyl, hybrid phases) and trapping micro‑LC delivered improved robustness and MS-compatibility for oligonucleotides, kinase inhibitors and other complex small molecules; LC migration simulators based on LSS models help predict system-dependent behavior.
• Proteomics and biologics: Coulometric‑MS enabled absolute protein quantitation without isotope standards, quantifying low-level host‑cell proteins and deamidation products; deep chemometric/NMR and HR‑ion mobility MS strategies enhanced higher‑order structure and glycan isomer characterization for biotherapeutics and AAVs.
• Forensics and field screening: Raman/SERS and combined Raman+LIBS provided high selectivity for organic gunshot residues and fentanyl analog differentiation; portable spectrometers and nondestructive Raman models enabled body-fluid and PFAS exposure screening in environmental and forensic matrices.
• Environmental analysis: specialized extraction and thin‑film SPME identified hundreds of organics in produced water; PFAS in fish plasma were discriminated by Raman+chemometrics; pyrolysis‑GC‑MS and thermal desorption DART approaches advanced microplastics identification.
• High‑throughput and automation: serial and parallel approaches for electrochemistry, automated tablet extraction with on-line LC for potency assays, and capillary LC setups achieved sub‑10 s separations and major solvent reductions for screening workflows.
• Machine learning and data fusion: DNNs performed autonomous deconvolution and uncertainty prediction for NMR exchange/decoupling; multiblock ML improved A‑TEEM quantitation/discrimination for food, pharma and water applications.

Benefits and practical applications

• Faster decision making: rapid, field‑deployable methods (portable Raman/NIR, handheld MS variants) and high‑throughput lab workflows accelerate case triage, environmental monitoring and QC release testing.
• Cost, waste and resource savings: capillary LC, trapping micro‑LC and automated extraction reduce solvent consumption and operator time while maintaining sensitivity.
• Regulatory and forensic value: non‑destructive vibrational spectroscopy fused with chemometrics supports body fluid identification and counterfeit detection without consuming DNA evidence; validated LC‑MS/MS and on‑line SPE methods offer robust trace PFAS and drug-impurity quantitation.
• Deeper biologic characterization: advanced MS, ion mobility and NMR tools enable reliable HOS, glycan isomer, and adduct/impurity profiling important for safety and CMC decisions.

Future trends and potential uses

• Wider adoption of ML-enabled autonomous analysis — for NMR, MSI, Raman and chromatography — to automate interpretation and reduce specialist bottlenecks.
• Increased use of high‑resolution ion mobility (SLIM, TIMS) to separate isomers and simplify glycoform/impurity assignments in complex biologics.
• Integration of portable, low‑cost sensors into citizen science and distributed monitoring networks (e.g., PlanktoScope), enabling large‑scale environmental datasets.
• Greener chromatography: broader implementation of quantitative green‑chemistry scoring (DOZN™2.0) and solvent‑saving microcolumn technology.
• Standardized, validated digital workflows and cloud platforms for chromatographic and LC‑MS data management to improve method migration, regulatory compliance and cross‑site consistency.
• Deeper cross‑disciplinary collaboration between analytical scientists, data scientists, and domain experts (toxicology, forensics, biomanufacturing) to translate measurement innovations into operational practice.

Conclusion

The 2022 EAS abstracts illustrate a vibrant analytical-science ecosystem advancing sensitivity, throughput, portability and interpretive power. Progress spans hardware (ion mobility, miniaturized LC, imaging modalities), chemistry (surface treatments, derivatization), and software (ML, simulation, automated pipelines). The combined trend is toward more sustainable, faster, and more widely accessible measurement solutions that meet regulatory and field needs while enabling deeper molecular insight in pharmaceutical, environmental, forensic and biological contexts.

References

No formal literature reference list was supplied in the source abstracts; individual abstracts cite instrument platforms and methods but no centralized bibliography was provided.