Laser spectrometry for multi-elemental imaging of biological tissues

An increasing interest has arisen in research focused on metallic and organic ions that play crucial roles in both physiological and pathological metabolic processes. Current methods for the observation of trace elements in biological tissues at microscopic spatial resolution often require equipment with high complexity. We demonstrate a novel approach with an all-optical design and multi-elemental scanning imaging, which is unique among methods of elemental detection because of its full compatibility with standard optical microscopy. This approach is based on laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), which allows the elements in a tissue sample to be directly detected and quantified under atmospheric pressure. We successfully applied this method to murine kidneys with 10 µm resolution and a ppm-level detection limit to analyze the renal clearance of nanoparticles. These results offer new insight into the use of laser spectrometry in biomedical applications in the field of label-free elemental mapping of biological tissues.