High resolution imaging mass spectrometry
First Claim
1. A system for mass spectrometry, comprising:
- a desorption beam configured to desorb neutral molecules from a target of a material independent of a matrix solution applied to the target; and
an ionization source configured to ionize at least a portion of the neutral molecules after desorption from the target of the material to form ionized molecules, the ionization source being a radiofrequency ionization (“
RFI”
) source.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present disclosure provides a system and method for mass spectrometry imaging in a multi-stage ionization applying different technologies by decoupling the desorption and ionization events. At a first stage, a primary beam, such as an ion beam, desorbs one or more molecules of a targeted sample, and at a second stage the desorbed molecules are ionized. The system and method can act independent of a matrix application to the target sample for a direct analysis and has the spatial resolution needed to operate in nano-meters resolution for a cell-by-cell analysis, if desired. The first stage desorption applies a first technique that allows neutral molecules of the target sample to become desorbed from the surface without requiring the molecules to be ionized during the desorption. The second stage ionizes the neutral molecules after the desorption in the first stage, when the defined target molecules have been volatilized.
7 Citations
11 Claims
-
1. A system for mass spectrometry, comprising:
- a desorption beam configured to desorb neutral molecules from a target of a material independent of a matrix solution applied to the target; and
an ionization source configured to ionize at least a portion of the neutral molecules after desorption from the target of the material to form ionized molecules, the ionization source being a radiofrequency ionization (“
RFI”
) source. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 10)
- a desorption beam configured to desorb neutral molecules from a target of a material independent of a matrix solution applied to the target; and
-
5. A method of imaging a target molecule with a mass spectrometer, comprising:
- desorbing one or more neutral molecules from a target of a material independently of a matrix solution applied to the target with a desorption beam configured to desorb neutral molecules; and
ionizing at least a portion of the neutral molecules into ionized molecules with a radiofrequency ionization (“
RFI”
) source after the desorbing of the neutral molecules. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 11)
- desorbing one or more neutral molecules from a target of a material independently of a matrix solution applied to the target with a desorption beam configured to desorb neutral molecules; and
Specification