Inspecting plastic bottles with mass spectrometers

When I started working at Abbott Laboratories in the early 70s, I went through an orientation process where I talked to various divisions about ongoing projects. One that truly blew my mind was a continuous system that that they were considering to inspect plastic bottles that were to be filled with surgical irrigating solution. They were proposing a rotary machine with multiple chambers, each equipped with a mass spectrometer. They would inject helium into each bottle as it entered the machine, and then close the top of the bottle. After the bottle was in the chamber, the machine would draw a vacuum in the chamber and analyze the internal atmosphere with a mass spectrometer to detect any helium that leaked through any opening in the bottle. I don’t know if the system was ever implemented or not, but it certainly was a unique and high-cost solution.

“A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always count on the support of Paul.” George Bernard Shaw.