CHAPTER 11. Ion Mobility Spectrometry in Mass Spectrometry Imaging

Mass spectrometry imaging involves the spatial mapping of analytes in a biological substrate. A major challenge for sampling of biological substrates is the inherent complexity of the sample, including the presence of multiple molecular classes, the dynamic range in analyte concentration, overlapping isobaric species and the presence of structural isomers. That challenge can be addressed through the integration of ion mobility spectrometry, which separates ions on the basis of their shape and charge state. This chapter considers the desorption/ionisation techniques of MALDI, DESI, nano-DESI, LESA, CF-LMJ-SS or Flowprobe, LAESI and MALDESI and their various integration with the ion mobility techniques DTIMS, TWIMS, FAIMS, TIMS and SLIM.