Laser-micro-mass analysis (LAMMA) of metallic and organic ions in medical samples

Laser induced mass spectra of different ions emerging from thin sections or films of biological or organic matrices are discussed by the example of Calcium, Aluminium and Diethyl (2) hexylphthalate. Since the energy transfer of laser light induces not only certain ionization processes, but causes phase transitions and enables interactions between neighbouring atoms and molecules, the ion representative for a certain substance sometimes has to be looked for carefully. Inorganic ions not bound to organic molecules belonging to the matrix are easily detected. The same kind of bound ions can be formed by cleaving the bond to the organic molecule by the laser irradiation, but a certain amount remains with some fragments. Fragments of organic molecules are possibly formed in different ways within different matrices. The detection of the substances mentioned above can be applied to the analysis of skin of patients on chronic dialysis whose metabolism and therapeutic treatment give rise to changes in the content of several substances in different tissues.