Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Applications of Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS)

Medical science is a field of study that is relevant to all people, but the development of pharmaceutical, biomedical and life science is of particular importance. In these fields, further studies are being established to determine with incredible accuracy the quantities and concentration of inorganic elements and organic compounds, such as nucleotides, sulphur and phosphorous containing peptides and proteins, to be used in all kinds of drugs. Since 1980, inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) has emerged as a new and powerful technique for elemental and isotopic analysis. It provides a means for the analysis of an extremely wide range of elements and the co-analysis of most elements in the periodic table. It can also be used for qualitative, quantitative and semi- quantitative analysis and for the measurement of isotopic ratios through mass-to-charge ratios. In recent years, ICP-MS has emerged as the best technique for the quantification of inorganic impurities in pharmaceutical and biomedical applications. This chapter focuses on introducing the applications of ICP-MS in the pharmaceutical and biomedical fields. Some problems facing ICP-MS are also presented at the end of this chapter.