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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2014 Jul 1.
Published in final edited form as: Adv Drug Deliv Rev. 2013 Apr 18;65(8):1074–1085. doi: 10.1016/j.addr.2013.04.009

Scheme 4. MSI Ionization Sources.

Scheme 4

The three most common sources for MSI: (a) Desorption electrospray ionization which uses a stream of solvent ions to desorb and ionize analyte molecules, (b) secondary ion mass spectrometry which uses a beam of ions from an ion gun to sputter analyte ions off the sample, and (c) matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization which uses laser irradiation of a matrix-coated sample for desorption and ionization.