Patent ID: 8664589

Claim:
A method for displaying laser-assisted mass spectroscopy data of a sample specimen, the method comprising: scanning, using a laser processing system, a laser beam along a beam trajectory relative to the sample, wherein the sample is located in a sample chamber during the scanning, and wherein the laser beam disassociates material from the sample along the beam trajectory to produce an aerosol of the disassociated material within the sample chamber; passing a fluid through the sample chamber to transport the disassociated material to a spectrometer for determining mass spectroscopy data values of a selected element along the beam trajectory; correlating, using a processor, the mass spectroscopy data values with respective locations of the sample along the beam trajectory; and displaying, on a display device, in real time as the laser beam continues to disassociate the material from the sample along the beam trajectory, an image of at least a portion of the sample including the respective locations along the beam trajectory where the material was disassociated by the laser beam, the image comprising indicia of the mass spectroscopy data values directly displayed on the sample at their correlated locations.