Waters Corporation has announced that its Full Spectrum Molecular Imaging System and its REIMS Research System with iKnife Sampling placed first and second among top innovations of 2015 as judged by The Analytical Scientist magazine.

"On behalf of all Waters employees, I want to thank The Analytical Scientist magazine for these awards," said Mr Art Caputo, president, Waters Division. "As proud as we are of this recognition, our focus continues to be on helping scientists reach their research goals, whether it's ensuring the safety of our food supplies or bringing life-saving medicines to patients."

An independent panel of judges awarded top honors to the two new mass spectrometry-based systems, both of which were introduced in 2015.

The Waters Full Spectrum Molecular Imaging System is said to be the first such system to combine three technologies: matrix assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) imaging, desorption electrospray ionization (DESI) imaging and ion mobility, the Full Spectrum Molecular Imaging System delivers multi-layered, information-rich data from a single sample.

Rapid Evaporative Ionization Mass Spectrometry (REIMS) Research System with iKnife Sampling combines direct-from-sample ionization with high performance time-of-flight mass spectrometry and powerful, intuitive analytics, the Rapid Evaporative Ionization Mass Spectrometry (REIMS) Research System with iKnife Sampling provides food, microbiology and tissue researchers with near-instantaneous data acquisition.

Removing the need for sample preparation and chromatographic separation, the system has the potential to make a huge impact on the time and money required to analyze large numbers of samples by mass spectrometry. When combined with multivariate statistical analysis, research scientists can quickly and easily differentiate samples from one another and confidently identify the differentiating features, allowing greater insight into chemical and biological systems.