Bruker Daltonics Introduces Unique flexImaging™ 2.0 Software for MALDI Mass & Class Imaging in Biomarker Discovery and Drug Imaging

At the 18th ASMS Sanibel Conference on Imaging Mass Spectrometry, Bruker Daltonics today announces the release of its new flexImaging 2.0 software solution for acquisition and evaluation of MALDI-TOF and TOF/TOF imaging data.

MALDI imaging of tissue samples with Bruker’s novel flexImaging 2.0 allows color-coded visualization of the distribution of biomarkers or absorbed drugs and their major metabolites. The Company’s MALDI imaging solutions provide a tool for the direct analysis of biomarker candidates or drug/metabolite distributions in tissue sections (for research use only).

Integrating multivariate statistical classifications such as PCA or variance ranking, flexImaging 2.0 now provides “Class Imaging” as an extension to the established “Mass Imaging”. Class imaging (patent pending) uniquely allows the classification of tissue types, such as mamma carcinoma, and determination of the class membership of comparable tissues/biopsies, e.g., from other individuals or from animals used in drug development.

Dr. Michael Schubert, Executive Vice President of Bruker Daltonics, commented: “Statistical biomarker or drug/metabolite data obtained with the FLEX™ series MALDI-TOF and TOF/TOF mass spectrometers can now be merged easily with molecular images for in-depth investigation of the spatial distribution of relevant marker candidates in tissues. We expect this breakthrough technology to further the diagnostics and pathology research, as well as the drug development applications of MALDI imaging.”

At the Sanibel conference, Bruker Daltonics also is pre-viewing its novel matrix deposition device, ImagePrep™, which is specifically tailored to the requirements of MALDI Imaging. Very promising results from this innovative device (patents pending) will be presented. The ImagePrep is scheduled for formal product launch later in 2007.