The ion images of biological samples in this study show the benefit of the improved lateral resolution. The NanoSIMS-HR was able to resolve finer features, such as the holes in the P. tricornutum cell wall (Fig. ) and the structure of the contents of the AMF vesicle (Fig. ). The relationship between imaging lateral resolution and analytical lateral resolution is somewhat complicated because it includes feature composition, feature spacing, analyte and analyte background , but in any case, improved resolution has benefits for navigation and feature identification. It is worth noting that although the highest resolution measurements in this study were made at low MRP to optimize the number of detected ions during a scan to achieve more accurate measurements of the analysis spot size, the same resolution scans could be made with higher MRP. For trace element and isotope analyses, multiple scans are typically made of an analysis area to accumulate statistically meaningful counts of the minor species.