Maldi support with magnetically held spring steel plate

摘要

The invention relates to a low-cost spring steel plate as the sample support on a dimensionally stable and precisely shaped substructure, machined from an aluminum alloy, for example, and using a pattern of embedded magnets so that said plate is removable and that a body is created overall which is suitable for use in robots, for example by giving it the dimensions of a conventional microtitration plate. The planarity of the surface onto which the (organic) samples are applied is provided within the near region by the spring steel plate itself and in the far region over the whole spring steel plate by the substructure. The spring steel plate may be designed for single use in order to satisfy IVD diagnostic regulations also, for example. It can be equipped with identification codes, sample site markings and pre-coatings for different types of analytical tasks, such as MALDI-TOF mass spectrometric analysis.

主权项

1. A composite sample support plate for mass spectrometric analysis of samples with ionization by matrix-assisted laser desorption, said plate having a dimensionally stable and precisely shaped substructure, on which a spring steel plate is magnetically fixable, while the surface of the spring steel plate that faces away from the substructure receives the samples, the spring steel plate being 0.1 to 0.8 millimeters thick and a plurality of magnets being distributed over the substructure and pulling the spring steel plate against the substructure in such a way that any curvature of the spring steel plate is smoothed out, wherein the substructure has one magnet near each corner and at least one near the center of the spring steel plate and the plurality of magnets is embedded in a plurality of supporting surfaces which stand proud of the surrounding substructure areas.