Maldi-tof

Acronym for "matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight".

MALDI-TOF method for mass analysis of chemical compounds. It is a combination of the methods matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) and mass spectrometry with time of flight (TOF) analyzer. Today, MALDI-TOF is increasingly used in microbiological diagnostics.

With this relatively simple technique, a molecular fingerprint of the micro-organism is generated from a grown pure culture (e.g. dermatophyte culture). In this process, minute amounts of the culture are applied to a carrier, coated with an organic acid and then examined in a mass spectrometer. The different biomolecules are ionised by a laser beam, accelerated in an electric field and passed through a flight tube. In this flight tube, a detector calculates the molecular masses from the time of flight (TOF) and produces a mass spectrum. The calculated data is compared with a reference database and displayed as a typing result. The detection takes about 2 minutes per germ identification. Thus, germ identification is possible within 24 hours. Bacteria as well as yeasts and fungi can be identified.