A mass spectrometer with a very high resolution and a scanning electron microscope with 3D visualization were inaugurated Tuesday, November 21, 2017. Thanks to these two new equipment, the IBMP wishes to perpetuate know-how and expertise, and become at the regional level, a pole of reference and training in these advanced technologies.
The ultra-high resolution spectrometer solariX FTMS is able to analyze with unparalleled sensitivity and precision the chemical composition and mass of small molecules submitted to it but also to make this analysis spatially directly in biological samples or not organic. This allows for example to locate micropollutants in wastewater or to monitor the progress of a drug in a body in situ. The acquisition was financed under the 2015-2020 Plan Etat Région.
The scanning electron microscope allows observation of samples in 3D and at high resolution. This microscope uses the Serial Block-Face Imaging technique: the sample is cut in very thin slices inside the observation chamber. After each cut, an image of the updated sample surface is acquired. The sequential images thus obtained allow the reconstruction of the sample in its three dimensions. This 3D imaging technology makes it possible to visualize the structural organization of a tissue or a cell, to study the connectivity of intra or intercellular structures. This microscope integrates the Strasbourg-Esplanade cellular imaging platform. The acquisition was funded under the Investing Future Program – IdEx.
