title: Imaging mass spectrometry: Instrumentation, applications, and combination with other visualization techniques.
abstract: Imaging Mass Spectrometry (IMS) is strengthening its position as a valuable analytical tool. It has unique ability to identify structures and to unravel molecular changes that occur in the precisely defined part of the sample. These unique features open new possibilities in the field of various aspects of biological research. In this review we briefly discuss the main imaging mass spectrometry techniques, as well as the nature of biological samples and molecules, which might be analyzed by such methodology. Moreover, a novel approach, where different analytical techniques might be combined with the results of IMS study, is emphasized and discussed. With such a fast development of IMS and related methods, we can foresee the promising future of this technique.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Neurobiology, Faculty of Materials Sciences and Ceramics, AGH University of Science and Technology, 30-059 Krakow, Poland.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bodzon-Kulakowska
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Neurobiology, Faculty of Materials Sciences and Ceramics, AGH University of Science and Technology, 30-059 Krakow, Poland.|Academic Centre for Materials and Nanotechnology (ACMiN), AGH University of Science and Technology, 30-059 Krakow, Poland.
authors.forename: Piotr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Suder
keywords: DESI; MALDI; SIMS; mass spectrometry imaging