METHOD AND DEVICE FOR DESORPTION IONIZATION

• US 20130224785A1
• Filed: 11/19/2012
• Published: 08/29/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Semmelweis Egyetem
• Original Assignee: Zoltan Takats
• Inventors: Takts, Zoltn
• Granted Patent: US 9,709,529 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 435/34
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 1/286 involving mechanical work, e.g. chopping, disintegrating, compacting, homogenising microtomes G01N1/06; pulverising in general B02C; mixing in general B01F
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 27/623 combined with mass spectrometry
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 27/628 and a beam of energy, e.g. laser enhanced ionisation
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 49/0463 Desorption by laser or particle beam, followed by ionisation as a separate step sample holder per se H01J49/0418
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 49/142 using a solid target which is not previously vapourised

Abstract

The invention relates to method and apparatus for production of gaseous ions from components of a condensed phase sample and analysis thereof, wherein one or more liquid jet(s) is/are directed to the surface of the sample to be investigated, where the impact of the liquid jet on the sample surface produces droplets carrying sample particles which are turned into gaseous ions via the evaporation of liquid or, if desired, by a subsequent ionization after the evaporation and the obtained sample particles are analyzed by a known method.

Claims

1. A method of analyzing biological tissue in vivo, the method comprising:

surgically exposing the biological tissue;

converting certain components of the exposed biological tissue into gaseous tissue particles;

transporting at least some of the gaseous tissue particles to an analyzer unit; and

analyzing at least some of the gaseous tissue particles with the analyzer unit,

wherein the gaseous tissue particles comprise gaseous ions and/or tissue particles convertible into gaseous ions, and

wherein the components of the exposed biological tissue are converted into gaseous tissue particles by other than solvent action.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the analyzer unit comprises a mass spectrometer or an ion mobility spectrometer.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the converting comprises applying an analytical beam to a portion of the exposed biological tissue.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the analytical beam comprises a continuous liquid jet.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the surgically exposing is performed at a pressure substantially higher than vacuum.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the surgically exposing is performed at ambient pressure.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the surgically exposing comprises cutting into the biological tissue.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the converting is performed on the exposed biological tissue at a depth in order to determine the in-depth distribution of the composition of the biological tissue.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising continuously providing information from results of the analysis to a user.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising ionizing constituents of the particles convertible into ions between the portion of the tissue and the analyzer unit.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the ionizing is performed at substantially atmospheric pressure.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the ionizing comprises at least one of:

corona discharge ionization and secondary electrospray ionization.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the transporting comprises using a transport tube having a pressure gradient to facilitate transport of the gaseous tissue particles to the analyzer unit.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the transporting comprises using a transport tube having an electric potential gradient to facilitate transport of the gaseous tissue particles to the analyzer unit.

15. A system for analyzing biological tissue in vivo, the system comprising:

a surgical device configured to convert certain components of exposed biological tissue into gaseous tissue particles, wherein the gaseous tissue particles comprise gaseous ions and/or tissue particles convertible into gaseous ions, and wherein the components of the exposed biological tissue are converted into gaseous tissue particles by other than solvent action;

a sample collector unit configured to transport the gaseous tissue particles from the portion of biological tissue to an analyzer; and

an analyzer operationally coupled to the sample collector unit, the analyzer configured to generate data for identifying components of the biological tissue.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the analyzer comprises a mass spectrometer or an ion mobility spectrometer.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the surgical device is configured to convert certain components of the exposed biological tissue into gaseous tissue particles by applying an analytical beam to a portion of exposed biological tissue.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the analytical beam comprises a continuous liquid jet.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the surgical device is configured to convert certain components of the exposed biological tissue into gaseous tissue particles at a pressure substantially higher than vacuum.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein the surgical device is configured to cut into the tissue in order to determine the in-depth distribution of the composition of the tissue.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the analyzer is configured to continuously provide information on the composition of the tissue to a user.

22. The system of claim 15, further comprising an ionization device configured to ionize tissue particles convertible into ions between the tissue and the analyzer unit.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the ionization device comprises at least one of:

a corona discharge ionization device and a secondary electrospray ionization device.

24. The system of claim 15, wherein the sample collector unit comprises a transport tube having a pressure gradient to facilitate transport of the gaseous tissue particles to the analyzer unit.

25. The system of claim 15, wherein the sample collector unit comprises a transport tube having an electric potential gradient to facilitate transport of the gaseous tissue particles to the analyzer unit.

26. A method for analyzing biological tissue in vivo, the method comprising exposing the biological tissue by a known surgical method, converting certain components of the biological tissue into gaseous ions, dislocating ions or biological tissue particles convertible into ions from the biological tissue by disintegration, and analyzing the obtained gaseous ions.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein said disintegration is achieved by applying a continuous liquid jet to said biological tissue.