SIMS ORGANIC MICROPROBE FEASIBILITY EVALUATION

THIS PHASE I RESEARCH PROGRAM WILL EVALUATE THE FEASIBILITY OF OBTAINING MICROANALYTICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF ORGANIC SPECIES CONTAINED IN BIOLOGICAL TISSUE SPECIMENS. THIS EVALUATION WILL BE PERFORMED USING STATE-OF-THE-ART SECONDARY ION MASS SPECTROMETRY (SIMS), AN ION MICROSCOPE, AND MICROPROBE INSTRUMENTATION. IT WILL DETERMINE THE OPTIMUM SIMS ANALYTICAL CONDITIONS REQUIRED TO GENERATE USEFUL MOLECULAR OR CHARACTERISTIC FRAGMENT ION INTENSITIES FROM SELECTED ORGANIC SPECIES DISPERSED ON OR CONTAINED IN MATRICES HAVING A CHEMICAL COMPOSITION SIMILAR TO DEHYDRATED SOFT BIOLOGICAL TISSUES. THE LATERAL RESOLUTION OF THESE CHARACTERISTIC IONS PRODUCED IN THE IMAGING SIMS ANALYSIS WILL ALSO BE DETERMINED. THE FEASIBILITY OF EMPLOYING SUBMICROMETER-DIAMETER ION SOURCES IN THE MOLECULAR SIMS MICROANALYSIS OF BIOLOGICAL SPECIMENS WILL BE STUDIED. THE UTILITY OF A HIGH MASS RANGE, IMAGING TIME OF FLIGHT SIMS (TOFSIMS) INSTRUMENTAL CONFIGURATION FOR ORGANIC MICROPROBE ANALYSES WILL ALSO BE DETERMINED. THE CAPABILITY OF PERFORMING ORGANIC SPECIESANALYSES AT A MICROMETER OR SUBMICROMETER LATERAL RESOLUTIONWOULD BE EXTREMELY USEFUL IN BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH AND POSSIBLY CLINICAL MEDICINE. THE RESEARCH DESCRIBED IN THIS PROPOSAL COULD LEAD TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF INNOVATIVE INSTRUMENTATION OF ANALYTICAL METHODS FOR ORGANIC MICROPROBE ANALYSIS.