DIOS has been shown to be an ultra-sensitive means of generating and detecting molecules at the yoctomole level, both for DIOS nanostructured surfaces modified with fluorocarbons, and a subsequent related technology known as nanostructure-initiator mass spectrometry or nanostructure imaging mass spectrometry (NIMS).
DIOS has been shown to detect peptides, natural products, small organic molecules, and polymers with little fragmentation.
DIOS can be used for proteomics. It has been reported as a useful method protein identification. Because it is matrix free, it can be used to identify smaller biomolecules than MALDI. In addition, it can be used to monitor reactions on a single surface through repeated MS analyses. Reaction monitoring can be used to screen enzyme inhibitors.
Atmospheric pressure DIOS was shown to be an effective tool for quantitative analysis of drugs with high proton affinity.
The use of DIOS to image small molecules has been demonstrated. Lin He and coworkers imaged small molecules on mouse liver cells. They also used marker molecules to image HEK 293 cancer cells.