Spatial metabolomics
Mass spectrometry imaging analysis
Label-free maps of lipids, metabolites and drugs, registered to histology and quantified.
What MALDI & DESI imaging measures
Mass spectrometry imaging maps hundreds to thousands of molecules, such as lipids, metabolites and drugs, directly in tissue without labels. MALDI ionizes molecules with a laser and a matrix; DESI uses a charged solvent spray under ambient conditions. Each pixel holds a full mass spectrum, so the result is a stack of molecular images.
Strengths
- Label-free, untargeted molecular imaging
- Maps metabolites, lipids and drugs that antibodies can't detect
- Reveals metabolic gradients and heterogeneity beyond what histology shows
- Can be co-registered with H&E or immunostained adjacent sections
How we can help with MALDI & DESI imaging data
Pre-processing
Peak picking, normalization and alignment of spectral data.
Co-registration
Aligning ion images with H&E and immunostained sections.
Spatial segmentation
Unsupervised clustering and dimensionality reduction to find molecular regions.
Gradients and margins
Quantifying molecular gradients across tumour margins and tissue regions.
Multimodal integration
Combining MSI with histology, multiplex imaging or transcriptomics.
Figures
Ion images and region-level statistics for publication.
Related technologies
Working with MALDI & DESI imaging data?
Tell us about your samples, panel and question. The first consultation is free.