Pneumatically Assisted Microfluidic Probe for Enhanced Mass Spectrometry Imaging Performance.

A pneumatically assisted microfluidic probe (MFP) with two microfluidic channels has been developed for nanospray desorption electrospray ionization mass spectrometry imaging (nano-DESI MSI) of biological samples. This design simplifies the experimental setup, making it independent of the vacuum suction at the mass spectrometer inlet. The implementation of pneumatically assisted solvent flow through the probe enables stable, high solvent flow rates required to maintain a consistent liquid bridge during high-throughput MSI experiments. This approach addresses challenges associated with using MFP nano-DESI probes on mass spectrometers that have limited vacuum suction and the operation of MFPs with small microfluidic channels. We demonstrate the robustness of the pneumatically assisted MFP with 30 μm channels, which cannot be used for high-throughput MSI experiments without pneumatic assistance, by successfully imaging five mouse brain tissue sections without interruptions.