[V ŽIVO!] Dr. Boštjan Jenčič (IJS): Molecular imaging by means of MeV primary ions

Understanding and solving novel problems in medicine, biomedicine, pharmaceutics, biology, or forensics is often associated to knowing localization characteristics of specific biomarkers within the analyzed sample. Mass Spectrometry Imaging (MSI) saw rapid increase of its use in the past decade due to its constant development, and is nowadays considered a powerful tool for such employment. The most commonly used MSI techniques rely on desorption of ionized molecules, which are afterwards analyzed in a mass spectrometer, by means of primary ions, laser or charged solvents. Among most common MSI techniques, Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy (SIMS) can at the moment probe with the highest lateral resolution, which can go as low as 30 nm. On the other hand, SIMS still lacks the ability to efficiently desorb large biomolecules, and is considered a destructive technique. An alternative to common SIMS is a niche method, known as MeV-SIMS. A different nature of primary ion stopping within the MeV energy range domain, where electronic excitations replace nuclear collisions as the main stopping process, allows softer desorption and less induced damage on large bio-molecules. Within the talk, I will present the current state and applications of MeV-SIMS at the Jozef Stefan Institute.