Automated imaging MS: Toward high throughput imaging mass spectrometry

The term molecular histology has been used to convey the potential of imaging mass spectrometry to describe tissue by its constituent peptides and proteins, and to link this with established histological features. The low throughput of imaging mass spectrometry has been one of the factors inhibiting a full investigation of the clinical potential of molecular histology. Here we report the development of an automated set-up, consisting of a controlled environment sample storage chamber, a sample loading robot, and a MALDI-TOF/TOF mass spectrometer, all controlled by a single user interface. The automated set-up is demonstrated to have the positional stability and experimental reproducibility necessary for its clinical application.