An apparatus for molecular imaging of biological samples includes a first optical port configured to receive a first pulsed optical beam that is directed in an optical path along an optical axis. A transparent target that include a first surface having an electrically conductive surface that supports a biological sample under analysis and a second surface is positioned in the optical path along the optical axis. A moveable target mount is configured to translate the transparent target to a plurality of predetermined locations. A first optical focusing element is configured to focus the first pulsed optical beam to a first predetermined diameter at the first surface of the transparent target. A second optical port is configured to receive a second pulsed optical beam that is directed in a second optical path along the optical axis. A second optical focusing element is configured to focus the second pulsed optical beam to a second predetermined diameter at the electrically conductive surface on the transparent target. A TOF mass spectrometer comprising an ion accelerator having a central axis that is substantially coaxial with the optic axis so that ions generated by the first and second pulsed optical beams are accelerated by the ion accelerator. A controller instructs the TOF mass spectrometer to acquire mass spectral data at the plurality of predetermined locations, thereby generating a molecular image of the biological sample under analysis.

Disclosed herein include systems, devices, and methods for droplet deposition for mass spectrometry. In some embodiments, a microfluidic device comprising wells is reversibly sealed to a mass spectrometry surface and used to deposit contents of droplets (e.g., enzymes and substrates), or products thereof, onto the mass spectrometry surface. The contents of droplets can be analyzed by laser desorption/ionization to, for example, identify a substrate of an enzyme or an enzyme capable of catalyzing a substrate to a product.

An apparatus for mass spectrometry and/or ion mobility spectrometry is disclosed comprising a first device arranged and adapted to generate aerosol, smoke or vapour from a target and one or more second devices arranged and adapted to aspirate aerosol, smoke, vapour and/or liquid to or towards an analyser. A liquid trap or separator is provided to capture and/or discard liquid aspirated by the one or more second devices.

The invention relates to an apparatus for mass-spectrometric analysis and three-dimensional imaging of the surface of a sample, comprising at least one energy source for desorbing and/or ionizing atoms from the surface of a sample, a displacement stage, and a light source. Further, it comprises an interface in order to be able to interchange data with a mass spectrometer such that measurement data can be transmitted from a mass spectrometer to the evaluation unit via the interface such that the chemical composition of the measurement point can be determined by the evaluation unit. The surface of a sample can be captured in three dimensions and the topography of this surface can be determined by the evaluation unit.

The invention relates to the field of physics and relates to an impulse-resolving photo-electron spectrometer, by means of which the physical properties can be determined. The aim of the invention is to provide an impulse-resolving photo-electron spectrometer enabling the device components to have a simple structure with a significantly reduced overall volume. The aim of the invention is achieved by means of an impulse-resolving photo-electron spectrometer comprising components arranged one behind the other in the direction of the optical axis at least in a vacuum and which are each at least one electron emission sample and a focusing system, wherein the focusing system consists of at least one electron lens and at least one detector, wherein the electron lens consists of three cylindrical elements, wherein the first cylindrical element has a potential=0 and the two subsequently arranged cylindrical elements have a potential of0, and wherein the detector is one or more spatially resolved detectors which are arranged in the focal plane of the electron lens.

The invention relates to the identification and visualization of the spatial distribution of particular tissue states in histological tissue sections from mass spectrometric signals acquired with spatial resolution. The invention proposes a method by means of which regions of the tissue with similar mass spectra are found automatically, and it is further proposed that mass spectra of these regions are summed in order to improve the spectral quality to such an extent that known markers for tissue degenerations can be identified with increased certainty. Regions of similar mass spectra can be interconnected on a large scale, but can also be isolated from each other on a small scale.

The user specifies regions of interest (ROIs) such as a region where a large amount of compound to be identified is estimated to be included and a region where the compound is overlapped with another compound on one or more specific MS images, and specifies addition or subtraction of the ROIs. For each of the specified ROIs, an average MS/MS spectrum is calculated from MS/MS spectrum data at measurement points in the regions, and the average MS/MS spectra at the ROIs are subjected to addition or subtraction, to obtain an MS/MS spectrum. By addition between the ROIs, the intensity of peak derived from the target compound can be increased. By subtraction between the ROIs, a peak derived from the other compound overlapped with the target compound can be removed. When the MS/MS spectrum after addition or subtraction is subjected to library search for identification, a score indicating the similarity of the spectrum is higher than the conventional score, and the identification accuracy can be improved.

A matrix-derived peak information acquisition unit (31) creates a peak list that summarizes various ions derived from a matrix and their theoretical m/z values based on a result of analysis of a sample of only a matrix, and stores the peak list in a matrix-derived peak information storage unit (32). When an actually-measured mass spectrum of a target sample is obtained, a mass calibration reference peak detection unit (33) uses a peak list corresponding to a matrix used for analysis to identify an ion peak derived from a matrix appearing in the actually-measured mass spectrum. A mass calibration information calculation unit (35) obtains mass calibration information from an actually-measured m/z value and a theoretical m/z value of the identified peak, and a mass calibration processing unit (37) uses the mass calibration information to correct an m/z value of a peak derived from a target compound on the actually-measured mass spectrum. In this manner, accurate mass calibration can be performed without using a standard substance or even in a case where an ion derived from a standard substance cannot be observed with sufficient intensity.

The invention relates to a method for monitoring a quality of preparation workflows of analytical tissue sections for mass spectrometric imaging using a control sample to be processed and measured alongside the analytical tissue sections on the same sample support and ascertaining if characteristics of the control sample measurement fit into a range of characteristics of separate reference measurements from the same type of control sample.

An apparatus for mass spectrometry and/or ion mobility spectrometry is disclosed comprising a first device arranged and adapted to generate aerosol, smoke or vapor from a target and one or more second devices arranged and adapted to aspirate aerosol, smoke, vapor and/or liquid to or towards an analyzer. A liquid trap or separator is provided to capture and/or discard liquid aspirated by the one or more second devices.