Spectroscopic data handling at petabyte scale

At the largest molecular imaging centre in Europe, Ron Heeren's group study high-resolution molecular imaging of biological systems and polymers through the development and application of advanced mass spectrometry based molecular imaging approaches for nanomedicine and biomedical research. Peter Peters' team use techniques such as high-resolution cryo-electron microscopy to investigate complex protein structures in cells. This far-sighted strategic decision by Maastricht University has attracted significant funding to the location and has allowed an unrivalled capability to be established which continues to grow. An example of the latest development work being undertaken with commercial companies is the beta testing of a new parallel imaging MS/MS nanoTOF II from Physical Electronics (PHI) where the TOF-SIMS spectrum (MS1) and the MS/MS spectrum (MS2) are acquired in parallel.