biostudies-literatureWoolman MNatural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada8723-8735https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC8163395biostudies-literatureUnknown11(33)Integration between a hand-held mass spectrometry desorption probe based on picosecond infrared laser technology (PIRL-MS) and an optical surgical tracking system demonstrates <i>in situ</i> tissue pathology from point-sampled mass spectrometry data. Spatially encoded pathology classifications are displayed at the site of laser sampling as color-coded pixels in an augmented reality video feed of the surgical field of view. This is enabled by two-way communication between surgical navigation and mass spectrometry data analysis platforms through a custom-built interface. Performance of the system was evaluated using murine models of human cancers sampled <i>in situ</i> in the presence of body fluids with a technical pixel error of 1.0 ± 0.2 mm, suggesting a 84% or 92% (excluding one outlier)Chemical science<i>In situ</i> tissue pathology from spatially encoded mass spectrometry classifiers visualized in real time through augmented reality.PMC8163395RGPIN-2018-04611Katz LQiu JChan HWoolman MWu MFricke IWouters BGDara DDaud FVentura MDas SFerry IWeersink RKuzan-Fischer CMGinsberg HJBernards NIrish JZaidi MJaffray DAZarrine-Afsar ARutka JTfalse<i>In situ</i> tissue pathology from spatially encoded mass spectrometry classifiers visualized in real time through augmented reality.Integration between a hand-held mass spectrometry desorption probe based on picosecond infrared laser technology (PIRL-MS) and an optical surgical tracking system demonstrates <i>in situ</i> tissue pathology from point-sampled mass spectrometry data. Spatially encoded pathology classifications are displayed at the site of laser sampling as color-coded pixels in an augmented reality video feed of the surgical field of view. This is enabled by two-way communication between surgical navigation and mass spectrometry data analysis platforms through a custom-built interface. Performance of the system was evaluated using murine models of human cancers sampled <i>in situ</i> in the presence of body fluids with a technical pixel error of 1.0 ± 0.2 mm, suggesting a 84% or 92% (excluding one outlier)2020-01-01T00:00:00Z2020 Jul2025-05-18T12:40:47.563Z2025-05-18T12:40:47.563ZS-EPMC81633953412312610.1039/d0sc02241a