title: Current and future applications of mass spectrometry to the clinical laboratory.
abstract: Mass spectrometry is an analytic technique with high specificity and a growing presence in laboratory medicine. Various types of mass spectrometers are being used in an increasing number of clinical laboratories around the world, and, as a result, significant improvements in assay performance are occurring rapidly in areas such as toxicology, endocrinology, and biochemical genetics. This review serves as a basic introduction to mass spectrometry, its uses, and associated challenges in the clinical laboratory and ends with a brief discussion of newer methods with the greatest potential for clinical diagnostics.
authors.affiliation: University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle, WA 98195-7110, USA.
authors.forename: Frederick G
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: Strathmann
authors.forename: Andrew N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Hoofnagle
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007753:Laboratories; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends*; D010338:Pathology, Clinical / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends*