Great Ormond Street's nitrogen gas generator is a Genius

The UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health (GOS ICH), together with its clinical partner Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (GOSH), forms the largest concentration of children's health research in Europe.

The team has a mission to improve the health and well-being of children, and the adults they will become, through world-class research, education, and public engagement.

We managed to catch up with Wendy Heywood, a Senior Research Associate at UCL, to get an understanding of their work and the part their PEAK gas generators play in their research.

Typically what is the focus of your LC-MS analysis - what sort of applications?

We focus on small molecules i.e. amino acids and tryptic peptides. These would be for patient clinical assays for rare diseases and for research assays.

What PEAK Scientific generators do you have in your laboratory and what LC-MS instruments do they supply?

We use a Genius XE SMZ which supports a Shimadzu LCMS-8060 NX.

What prompted you to choose a PEAK generator for LC-MS and how long have you used it?

This was provided through Shimadzu as part of a new mass spec installation – both instruments were bundled which made the choice a simple one.

What has been the key benefit of deploying PEAK generators for LC-MS as opposed to your previous gas supply solution?

This is a portable stand-alone. Our large generator that supplies all other instruments is at capacity and when that fails it means all our instruments are down.

How would you describe your purchasing experience with PEAK in terms of speed of response, ease of ordering, catering to your needs and timing of delivery?

Very good. Again, as it was bought in tandem with our Shimadzu LCMS, it made the process very smooth.

Would you recommend PEAK Scientific generators to other laboratories - and if so, what would be your main reason for the recommendation?

Yes. So far we have had no issues.

A Shimadzu-approved nitrogen gas generator

PEAK Scientific has a long history of working directly with many instrument manufacturers to supply dedicated solutions for specific instruments. We have been working with Shimadzu since 2009 when a gas solution for the LCMS-8050 was in development and, since then, we have produced several solutions for Shimadzu applications.

Genius XE SMZ has been validated and approved by Shimadzu through rigorous testing at Shimadzu facilities to ensure the nitrogen generator is able to meet the demands of their instruments. With this validation being completed by the original instrument manufacturer, our customers can have the peace of mind that the nitrogen generator they have in their lab is approved for their specific equipment.

The Genius XE SMZ not only provides peace of mind when it comes to compatibility with your lab instruments, but it also provides peace of mind when it comes to gas supply. As Wendy mentioned, the team at UCL has a large generator, but when this is at capacity all of their instruments shut down. With the Genius XE SMZ, they have the confidence that their equipment will not reach that capacity which allows them to continue the important work they are undertaking. This is hugely important to limit the risk to their mass spec workflow. 

PEAK Scientific can also protect your workflow with our comprehensive range of service plans which keep your generator in the best condition possible throughout its lifetime. Our support team are even available to offer remote assistance via our Visual Support service which allows us to see inside your generator with the help of just your mobile phone camera. 

If you are looking for a nitrogen gas generator for your LC-MS that will provide you with reliable, high-purity nitrogen that has been validated by instrument manufacturers, the Genius XE SMZ is the ideal solution for your nitrogen gas needs.