Shimadzu iMScope Imaging Mass Microscope

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Shimadzu has introduced the iMScope, an instrument that combines an optical microscope and high-resolution mass spectrometer into a single seamless platform. This allows the overlay of high-resolution morphological images with molecular information provided by the mass spectrometer, thus combining form, function and molecular identity into a high-definition composite image.

Optical microscopes cannot determine which molecules are localised in the region of interest. On the other hand, the positional information of molecules is lost in mass spectrometric analysis, where sample extraction and homogenisation is needed for sample pre-treatment. The product allows qualitative analysis and localisation of specific molecules and compositional and morphological observation to be obtained from a single analysis through microscope observation.

Imaging mass spectrometry directly detects both natural and synthetic molecules in tissue sections and measures mass spectra while retaining their positional information associated with the tissue section. Then, two-dimensional distributions of specific molecules are visualised by combining the positional information of each mass spectrum and the signal intensity for specific ions in the mass spectrum (MS imaging).