Innovations in MALDI MSI: instrument and method development for high resolution imaging

This thesis focuses on the development of instruments and methods to improve mass spectrometry imaging (MSI). MSI enables simultaneous detection and localization of molecules in samples such as tissues or single cells.
The ion source presented in this thesis improves spatial resolution in MSI experiments, enabling smaller pixel sizes. Coupling the mass spectrometer to an external data acquisition device led to enhanced mass resolution, allowing the identification of molecules with very similar masses. A newly developed protocol enabled high-throughput imaging of proteins at the single cell level. Finally, a protocol for the analysis of N-glycans in fresh frozen tissue achieved performance comparable to the gold standard established for FFPE tissue, while being more compatible with clinical sample workflows.
Overall, this thesis further emphasizes the importance of MSI for imaging molecular distributions in samples as small as a single cell, offering high throughput and sensitivity compared with other methods.