Apport d'une nouvelle technique d'imagerie pour le diagnostic: la spectrométrie de masse.

Moss spectrometry proceeds from the generation of gas-phase ions from the molecules present in a sample. Recent ionisation methods make use of a focalized energy transfer onto a surface, allowing the localized analysis of a solid sample. The signals recorded are all the more intense as the corresponding molecules are more abundant. The point-by-point recording of mass spectra thus enables to generate ion images inasmuch as the translation of ionic intensity variations in a colour code creates the visible contrast. By applying mass spectrometry imaging to thin tissue slices originating, for example, from biopsies, it is possible to detect and locate simultaneously on the tissue surface a variety of biomolecules such as lipids, metabolites, drugs or proteins. This method can either play a role of support to the clinical diagnostic or emerge as a new tool in metabolomic and proteomic studies. The particular case of the Fabry disease is presented here in order to illustrate the present capabilities of this novel chemical imaging approach.