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Updated: Jun 18, 2025

Atmospheric-pressure Molecular Imaging of Biological Tissues and Biofilms by LAESI Mass Spectrometry
Published on: September 3, 2010
Direct Three-Dimensional Mass Spectrometry Imaging with Laser Ablation Remote Atmospheric Pressure
Tomasz Ruman1, Sumi Krupa2, Joanna Nizioł1
1Department of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Rzeszów University of Technology, 6 Powstan ́ców Warszawy Ave., Rzeszów 35-959. Poland.
Abstract:
The laser ablation remote atmospheric pressure photoionization/chemical ionization (LARAPPI/CI) platform coupled to an ultrahigh resolution quadrupole-time-of-flight (QToF) mass spectrometer was developed and employed for the first direct three-dimensional (3D) mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) of metabolites in human and plant tissues. Our solution for 3D MSI does not require sample modification or cutting into thin slices. Ablation characteristics of an optical system based on a diffraction optical element are studied and used for voxel stacking to directly remove layers of tissues. Agar gel, red radish, kiwi, human kidney cancer, and normal tissue samples were used for the tests of this new system. The 2D and 3D ion images vividly illustrate differences in the abundances of selected metabolites between cancerous and noncancerous regions of the kidney tissue and also between different parts of plant tissues. The LARAPPI/CI MSI setup is also the first example of the successful use of combined dopant-assisted atmospheric pressure photoionization (DA-APPI) and atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) ion source for mass spectrometry imaging.
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