The application notes of the Neo-Source MSI DPI include bacterial analysis, microbial imaging and microbial ecology as pathology-diagnosis-related directions, also covering cross-field areas such as toxicology and environmental chemistry. The advantage of MSI is that it can present the distribution of molecules and metabolites in-situ without completely separating the community from the matrix.
Its matrix-free, low-ion-suppression, direct-analysis-of-complex-samples features allow microbial samples with complex matrices such as culture medium and tissue to be analyzed relatively directly, reducing bias introduced by preparation.
First, microbial spatial structure: the distribution position of different bacteria in a colony or tissue; second, metabolic interaction: which metabolites enrich at the interface between bacteria or between bacteria and host; third, infection localization: molecular distribution features of infection- or microbiota-related samples; fourth, rapid screening: high-throughput imaging of microbes and their products in food and environmental samples.
The Neo-Source MSI DPI supports high-throughput rapid analysis and screening, listing Chinese medicinal materials, blood, natural products and drugs as typical objects; its matrix-free preparation orientation also benefits measure-on-demand of microbial samples.
When resolution advances to single-cell and even subcellular scale, MSI can read the chemical composition of individual microbial cells. The Neo-Source MSI LDPI provides 2–3 μm matrix-free ambient imaging, entering single-cell/subcellular scale, complementing DPI's 20–200 μm range and supporting finer microbial spatial research.
Engineered, DPI is compatible with mainstream mass spectrometers from Agilent, AB SCIEX and Thermo, providing a self-developed titanium-alloy ion transfer tube that does not damage the sample at the front end and is detachable for cleaning, enabling stable and reproducible microbial imaging.
Microbial MSI still faces challenges such as matrix interference, spectrum annotation and quantitative calibration; conclusions should be cross-validated with complementary methods such as culture, sequencing and chromatography-mass spectrometry. The core value of MSI lies in providing the dimension of 'microbial community chemical spatial distribution'.
From an industrial perspective, the engineering orientation of matrix-free preparation and ready-to-use is gradually pushing such high-threshold microbial analysis toward routine testing rooms.
To obtain detailed specifications, compatible models, or a quotation for the MSI LDPI / DPI full series imaging ion sources, visit the Neo-Source official website, or contact the official team for compatibility advice tailored to your mass spectrometer (Agilent / SCIEX / Thermo and other mainstream MS).