This disclosure relates to reagents and their use for elemental imaging mass spectrometry of biological samples.

One mode is a method for the structural analysis of an organic compound by MALDI mass spectrometry, including: a sample preparation process (S1) which includes preparing a sample by mixing a specimen containing an organic compound to be analyzed with a predetermined matrix at a mixture ratio within a range from 1:5 to 1:5000 in molar ratio; a mass spectrometry process (S3) which includes irradiating the prepared sample with a laser beam having a spot size equal to or smaller than 15 μm to generate ions originating from a component of the specimen in the sample, and performing a mass spectrometric analysis of the generated ions; and an analyzing process (S4) which includes detecting, from a mass spectrum acquired in the mass spectrometry process, ions including product ions resulting from in-source decay, and estimating the structure of the organic compound to be analyzed based on information concerning the ions.

A method for analyzing biological samples using mass spectrometry or ion mobility spectrometry that includes producing gas-phase ions and neutrals from the sample in a proximity of the sample; transferring the produced ions from the sample to a distance via a flexible or re-configurable ion transfer device such that the flexible or re-configurable ion transfer device includes a plurality of electrodes configured to be flexible or flexibly connected to each other, and the ion transfer device is configured to be flexible while transferring the ions to allow the ion transfer device to form one or more curvatures; and separating the produced ions with a mass spectrometer or a mobility analyzer located at the distance to provide spectrometric results.

A surface-assisted laser desorption/ionization method according to an aspect includes: a first process of preparing a sample support (2) having a substrate (21) in which a plurality of through-holes (S) passing from one surface (21a) thereof to the other surface (21b) thereof are provided and a conductive layer (23) that covers at least the one surface (21a); a second process of placing a sample (10) on a sample stage (1) and arranging the sample support (2) on the sample (10) such that the other surface (21b) faces the sample (10); and a third process of applying a laser beam (L) to the one surface (21a) and ionizing the sample (10) moved from the other surface (21b) side to the one surface (21a) side via the through-holes (S) due to a capillary phenomenon.

There is provided a method of measuring a mass of an ion species in a mass stream. Where the mass stream is a mass stream emitted from a separation device as a function of a separation parameter, the method comprising: obtaining a mass trace for the ion species, wherein the mass trace comprises a set of intensity peaks, each intensity peak providing a respective measured mass and a respective signal measured by a mass spectrometer; and determining the mass of the ion species as an extrapolation of the measured masses of the set of intensity peaks of the mass trace towards a signal zero.

Method and devices are provided for imaging a surface, such as a biological tissue sample, by mass spectrometry. In certain aspects, devices of the embodiments allow for the placement and collection of a plurality of spatially separated liquid droplets on a sample and delivery of the droplets with extracted sample analytes for mass spectrometry analysis.

The present invention relates generally to a species (analyte) separation and analysis system, for instance a spectrometry system, comprising a processor for receiving and processing signals from said its detector to remove undesirable variation or noise before further processing into a spectrum, whereby the processor is programmed by a novel program for a normalization preprocessing of the signals of said separation and analysis system.

Methods for laser induced ablation spectroscopy (LIBS) are disclosed. Light from laser ablation can be gathered into a lightguide fiber bundle that is subdivided into branches. One branch can convey a first portion of the light to a broadband spectrometer operable to analyze a relatively wide spectral segment, and a different branch can convey a second portion of the light to a high dispersion spectrometer operable to measure minor concentrations and/or trace elements. Emissions can be analyzed using a plurality of spectrometers having distinct and/or complementary capabilities, and with a synergistic method using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.

In a data-analyzing method in which an analysis based on a plurality of data groups each obtained by an instrumental analysis on each of a plurality of samples, with each data group including signal values having an n-dimensional array structure (where n≥2), is performed by using a computer, to obtain desired information concerning a difference between the samples, the method includes: a computational processing step for performing, in each data group, a persistent-homology processing on data including signal values having an m-dimensional array structure (where 2≤m≤n) obtained from one data group, to create a persistence diagram (PD); and an analytical processing step for comparing PDs respectively obtained from the data groups, to obtain the desired information based on a difference in the dispersion state of plots across the entire PDs being compared and/or based on information concerning a plot having no positional correspondence determined on the PDs being compared.

Systems and methods for controllably forming an analyte layer comprising amorphous ice and/or other frozen amorphous solids on a substrate. In an embodiment, the present invention provides simplified systems and methods for the preparation of cryo-EM samples, where the same particle beam, such as an ion beam, is used to deposit the desired analyte onto the substrate as well as to generate the amorphous ice or frozen solid layer on the substrate