Our team has made major contributions to the emerging field of in vivo mass spectrometry by developing and translating MS systems directly into the operating room. These technologies enable real time molecular assessments that provide dynamic metabolic information to support disease stratification and guide clinical decision making during surgical procedures.
A key innovation pioneered by our group is the MasSpec Pen (MSPen), a handheld device that uses gentle solid–liquid chemical extraction to analyze unmodified tissue within seconds. The resulting mass spectra contain rich molecular signatures composed of hundreds of endogenous biomolecules originating from the cell populations within the sampled tissue. Because MSPen requires no tissue modification and preserves sample integrity, it is broadly applicable to a wide range of tissues and disease contexts for both ex vivo and in vivo analyses. To extract clinical meaning from these complex datasets, we have developed a suite of advanced statistical and machine learning tools capable of predicting outcomes such as tissue type and disease state. These approaches have yielded highly accurate diagnostic models for cancer based on metabolic markers identified using MSPen technology. Importantly, the gentle solvent based extraction process avoids tissue damage, opening new avenues for non destructive chemical sensing in biomedical research and clinical practice.
Since its introduction, MSPen has generated substantial interest in both scientific and medical communities and has spurred the creation of numerous new applications. We continue to strengthen and expand the technology through multiple collaborations and funded projects, including cancer diagnosis and subtyping, surgical margin evaluation, integration into robotic surgery platforms, and in vivo natural products discovery.