This fundamentally-oriented project proposal focuses on the development of instrumentation and

computational approaches to enhance the capabilities of imaging techniques capable of detecting

elements within brain samples, such as (i) laser ablation - inductively coupled plasma - mass

spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), (ii) synchrotron resonant ptychography, and (iii) synchrotron nanoscale

X-ray fluorescence microscopy (SR NANO-XRF). In LA-ICP-MS, material is removed from the surface

of a brain section by a laser and transported into a plasma, which ionizes the particles, after which

they are introduced into a mass spectrometer. One of the goals of the project is to decrease the

size of the laser spot used to remove material by integrating better optical elements in a highly

sensitive setup developed at Ghent University. The second goal of this project is to combine

information generated by techniques (i-iii) to enhance the spatial resolution of the images of the

element distribution from 300-1000 nm down to 10-200 nm. This improved capability will be used

to study the effects of inflammation on the metal transport processes in a region of the brain

responsible for the regulation of the metal distribution in the brain, on a much smaller scale than

ever before. The identification of the sites at which the inflammation-induced changes in metal

transport occur in the brain may provide additional insights into approaches to regulate the

transport and treat inflammatory diseases.