Biological imaging MS: SIMS in the Fastlane

Description:
The evolution of physical-chemical analytical instruments has traditionally focused on the improvement of resolution, separation, sensitivity and throughput. Resolution in that light refers to different parameters such as spectral resolution, molecular resolution, structural resolution, spatial resolution and several more. In imaging technologies in particular, the detail that can be observed is crucial and the “resolution revolution” is strongly based on advances in detector technology and image processing. We are now seeing a similar revolution in secondary ion mass spectrometry where slowly but surely these advances particle detection systems are making a huge impact for biological imaging.

One innovation in mass spectrometry takes advantage of the massively parallel detection of arrival time and position the Timepix3 offers in streaming mode. It is employed for ultrafast SIMS based molecular imaging of large areas at submicron spatial resolution. Applied to biomedical tissue analysis it allows the visualization of a variety of molecules at cellular detail. That can revolutionize digital molecular pathology. Innovative imaging technologies now offer new insights in life’s complexity that can be employed for precision medicine, the understanding of new (bio)materials and the processes that happen on the interface of living and ‘dead’ matter. Innovations in mass spectrometry based chemical microscopes using both SIMS and MALDI have now firmly established themselves in translational molecular research. One key aspect of translational success is the ability to obtain this molecular information on thousands of molecules on a process relevant timescale. This lecture will discuss the innovations and fundamental principles that underpin this unique development and puts SIMS in the fastlane.

Speaker: Ron M.A. Heeren - Maastricht University
Prof. Dr. Ron M.A. Heeren obtained a PhD degree in physics in 1992 at the University of Amsterdam. In 2001 he was appointed professor at the chemistry faculty of Utrecht University lecturing on the physical aspects of biomolecular mass spectrometry. In 2014 he was appointed as distinguished professor and Limburg Chair at Maastricht University. He is the scientific director of the Maastricht MultiModal Molecular Imaging institute. He was awarded the prestigious 2019 Physics Valorization prize by Dutch science foundation NWO and the 2020 Thomson medal by the international mass spectrometry foundation. In 2021 he was elected as a member of the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences, KNAW. He is the current president of the international mass spectrometry foundation. His academic research interests are mass spectrometry based personalized medicine, translational molecular imaging and “omics” research, and the development of new MS based molecular imaging techniques for the life sciences.