Single nanoparticle analysis by ICPMS: a potential tool for bioassay

Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS) has already been demonstrated as a promising technique for metallic nanoparticle tagged bioassays due to its high sensitivity, wide dynamic linear range, and more importantly multiplex and absolute quantification ability. Besides, single nanoparticle analysis by ICPMS has also recently been applied for many metal nanoparticles. Moreover, its short data acquisition dwell times (serval hundred microseconds) lead to an extremely high signal to noise ratio for metal nanoparticles (i.e., low detection limits). This perspective focuses on single nanoparticle analysis-based ICPMS bioassays, which provide high sensitivity without any sophisticated signal amplification procedures. Herein, the recent development of single nanoparticle analysis, ICPMS instrument design, and single molecule analysis is discussed. Considering the vast types of metallic nanoparticles currently available and simultaneous multiplex detection capability of TOF-ICPMS, single nanoparticle analysis-based bioassays may open a new avenue for multiplex single molecule analysis.