This chapter focuses on bioimaging in metallomics, which involves metal and metalloids distribution in animal tissues. It starts with laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry followed by secondary ion mass spectrometry, synchrotron-based X-ray fluorescence, and electron microscopy, including transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The basic principles of these techniques and their application for qualitative and quantitative imaging of elements are presented. Sample preparation for bioimaging is briefly discussed. The usefulness of element bioimaging is demonstrated for cells and several animal tissues, including the brain, liver, hair, eye, teeth, and bone. As such, this chapter addresses the state of the art in bioimaging metallomics.
Keywords: Bioimaging; EDX; LA-ICP-MS; Metallomics; SEM; SIMS; SRXRF; TEM.