The characteristics and analytical utility of laser microprobe mass analysis (LAMMA) are described and evaluated, and a short history of this recent microanalytical technique is presented. A review of the areas of application of LAMMA and related laser microprobes is presented with special emphasis on applications in the life sciences.

No abstract

No abstract

A new Internal standard system based upon Chelex-100 Ion chelating resin beads loaded with various elements Is proposed for laser microprobe mass analysis (LAMMA) of tissue-bound elements In thin sections of biological material. The beads can be coembedded with the biological specimen and cut to the desired thickness. In this way, the standard material is available together with and close to the tissue In the same section, thus avoiding section thickness measurements and specimen exchange. Chelex-100 beads can be loaded with various elements In a controlled way and the spatial elemental distribution Is sufficiently homogeneous for use In microanalysis. The signal reproducibility, the proportionality between the LAMMA response and the elemental concentration, and the Influence of the specimen composition on the LAMMA mass spectra were studied. Chelex-100 was also compared to other types of Ion exchange beads. This versatile standardization technique opens new vistas for quantitative laser microprobe applications In biological and biomedical research.Considerable interest is currently being focused on laser microprobe mass analysis (LAMMA), primarily due to the commercial advent of the LAMMA-500 instrument. A description of this new microanalytical instrument and discussions of its advantages, drawbacks, and applications can readily be found in the literature (1-3). The technique was originally developed for biomedical purposes, but hitherto its impact remained mainly limited to qualitative biological aspects.Absolute quantification of subcellular elemental distributions in biological specimens is, of course, not trivial at all. Structural localization in the uncolored and unstained histological sections is often problematic. Moreover, the LAM-MA spectra of biological preparations can be highly complex, variable, and difficult to interpret: mass interferences arising from organic molecules or fragment ions, both from the specimen itself and from the embedding or supporting media, are often important, while the laser interaction is intricate and complete understanding about laser-induced microplasma

No abstract