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Case Reports
. 2017 Mar;131(2):497-500.
doi: 10.1007/s00414-016-1414-4. Epub 2016 Aug 10.

Imaging mass spectrometry of elements in forensic cases by LA-ICP-MS

Estelle Lauer  1 , Max Villa  1 , Morgane Jotterand  1 , Raquel Vilarino  1 , Marc Bollmann  1 , Katarzyna Michaud  1 , Silke Grabherr  1 , Marc Augsburger  1 , Aurélien Thomas  2   3
Affiliations
Case Reports

Imaging mass spectrometry of elements in forensic cases by LA-ICP-MS

Estelle Lauer et al. Int J Legal Med. 2017 Mar.

Abstract

Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) was performed to map elements in thin formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue sections of two forensic cases with firearm and electrocution injuries, respectively. In both cases, histological examination of the wounded tissue regions revealed the presence of exogenous aggregates that may be interpreted as metallic depositions. The use of imaging LA-ICP-MS allowed us to unambiguously determine the elemental composition of the observed aggregates assisting the pathologist in case assessments. To the best of our knowledge, we demonstrate for the first time the use of imaging LA-ICP-MS as a complementary tool for forensic pathologists and toxicologists in order to map the presence of metals and other elements in thin tissue sections of post-mortem cases.

Keywords: Histology; Imaging mass spectrometry; LA-ICP; Metal; Tissue section; Trace elements.

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