2012/07/26 by Julia H. Jungmann, Donald F. Smith, Luke MacAleese +4 · 3 citations
Medicine · Physics and Astronomy · #Medical Imaging Techniques and Applications #Nuclear Physics and Applications #Particle Detector Development and Performance #physics.ins-det
paper · pdf · doi:10.1007/s13361-012-0444-5
published as Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry, 23, 10, 1679-1688, 2012
openalex publication_date 2012/07/26 · arxiv created 2013/05/23 · arxiv updated 2013/05/24 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04
We demonstrate the capabilities of a highly parallel, active pixel detector for large-area, mass spectrometric imaging of biological tissue sections. A bare Timepix assembly (512x512 pixels) is combined with chevron microchannel plates on an ion microscope matrix-assisted laser desorption time-of-flight mass spectrometer (MALDI TOF-MS). The detector assembly registers position- and time-resolved images of multiple m/z species in every measurement frame. We prove the applicability of the detection system to bio-molecular mass spectrometry imaging on biologically relevant samples by mass-resolved images from Timepix measurements of a peptide-grid benchmark sample and mouse testis tissue slices. Mass-spectral and localization information of analytes at physiological concentrations are measured in MALDI-TOF-MS imaging experiments. We show a high spatial resolution (pixel size down to 740x740 nm2 on the sample surface) and a spatial resolving power of 6 μm with a microscope mode laser field of view of 100-335 μm. Automated, large-area imaging is demonstrated and the Timepix' potential for fast, large-area image acquisition is highlighted.