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Chromatography detectors designed to assess the individual molecules that come out (i.e., elute) from the chromatography column of a gas chromatography (GC) system. These devices detect and measure the mobile phase (a gas) and/or the characteristics of the sample constituents, the type of GC detector used is highly dependent on the application of the GC system. The detector types commonly found in the clinical laboratory are: (1) Thermal conductivity detectors (TCD) which determine the change in thermal conductivity of the carrier gas caused by the sample components; (2) flame ionization detectors, which employ a flame to ionize the sample gas which is attracted to electrodes to produce a change in electrical current that is amplified and used to assess the quantity of each sample component. Additionally, liquid chromatography systems are often combined with and work together with mass spectrometers as detectors. There is a great variety of other detectors that are used with GC systems, including electron capture detectors (ECDs), nitrogen-phosphorus detectors (NPDs), and photoionization detectors (PIDs), The GC system can be configured to use one detector or to pass the sample through a series of detectors, provided that if one of the detectors is destructive to the sample it will be set up as the last in the series. Gas chromatography detectors are mainly used in clinical laboratories as a component of chromatography systems intended to assess ionized organic samples such as amphetamines, barbiturates, and steroids; halogenated gases such as chlorine and fluorine, and many other organic samples.
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