Imaging Mass Cytometry

Imaging Mass Cytometry (IMC) is an expansion of mass cytometry, but rather than analyzing single cells in suspension, it uses laser ablation to generate plumes of particles that are carried to the mass cytometer by a stream of inert gas. Images reconstructed from tissue sections scanned by IMC have a resolution comparable to light microscopy, with the high content of mass cytometry enabled through the use of isotopically labeled probes and ICP-MS detection. Importantly, IMC can be performed on paraffin-embedded tissue sections, so can be applied to the retrospective analysis of patient cohorts whose outcome is known, and eventually to personalized medicine. Since the original description in 2014, IMC has evolved rapidly into a commercial instrument of unprecedented power for the analysis of histological sections. In this Review, we discuss the underlying principles of this new technology, and outline emerging applications of IMC in the analysis of normal and pathological tissues. © 2017 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry.