Patent ID: 8941057
Filing Date: 2015-01-27
Classification: B82Y,G01N,H01J

Abstract:
1. A method of obtaining a three-dimensional compositional map of one or more targets in a biological sample comprising one or more cells, or a portion thereof, comprising: (a) milling a surface layer of a biological sample with a focused ion beam thereby creating a newly exposed surface layer of the biological sample; (b) imaging the newly exposed surface layer of the biological sample; (c) positioning a probe over the newly exposed surface layer, the probe comprising: (d) contacting the probe with the newly exposed surface layer, thereby lifting off components of the surface layer onto the probe; (e) optionally transferring the components of the surface layer from the probe into a receiving unit; (f) identifying the chemical composition of the components on the probe or in the receiving unit with the mass spectrometer; and (g) repeating (a) to (f) until a three-dimensional compositional map of one or more targets in the biological sample, or portion thereof, is obtained.