The Diffusion Index
Spatial Proteomics
1,856 PubMed papers. Imaging mass cytometry, MIBI, CODEX, CyCIF, GeoMx — the protein-layer complement to spatial transcriptomics. A smaller field, a year or two behind spatial Tx, and still in Early Adopters.
Papers analyzed
1,856
Peak score (2019)
43/1,000
Current score (2026)
10.2/1,000
IMC platform mentions
588
How many papers, and where they land
Annual spatial proteomics papers split into three tiers — Nature / Science / Cell, the rest of the top-tier specialist journals (Tier 1+2), and everything else. The log view keeps all three visible; the widening gap is the dilution the diffusion curve below captures as a ratio.
Log scale — each line is a count, so all three tiers stay visible despite spanning four orders of magnitude. The gap between the lines is the dilution: top-3 output barely moves while total volume explodes. 2006–2025 (2026 partial year omitted).
Peak: 239.1 per 1,000 in 2019 · current (2026): 73.6 per 1,000 — still descending
A smaller field with a plateau, not a peak
Spatial proteomics peaked at ~43 per 1,000 in 2019 (when total papers were still only 23 — statistically noisy). The more robust signal is the 2020–2023 plateau at 21–32 per 1,000 as multiple platforms validated their approaches simultaneously. Since 2023, the score has declined to ~10 as the technology enters routine use in pharma tumor microenvironment mapping. The plateau shape — rather than a sharp NGS-style spike — reflects a field that grew more slowly and validated more carefully.
IMC and GeoMx dominate
Imaging mass cytometry (IMC) accounts for 588 platform mentions — built on Fluidigm’s (now Standard BioTools) mass cytometry foundation. GeoMx Digital Spatial Profiling from NanoString follows at 335 mentions. CyCIF (93), MIBI (73), and CODEX/PhenoCycler (69) round out the field. This distribution reflects real commercial traction: GeoMx became the pharma workhorse for TIL and TME characterization, while IMC dominated academic research labs with its single-cell resolution. Akoya’s CODEX is a growing third player, especially after 10x Genomics acquired MIBI assets in 2023.
Trailing spatial transcriptomics by ~2 years
Spatial transcriptomics (6,653 papers) dwarfs spatial proteomics (1,856 papers) — a 3.5× gap in publication volume. The diffusion curves tell a similar story but offset: spatial Tx peaked in 2020 at 146 per 1,000 and is now at ~12; spatial proteomics peaked around 2019–2023 at 21–32 per 1,000 and is at ~10. Both are in decline. The protein-layer version was technically harder to commercialize (requires expensive instrumentation, complex workflows, limited throughput) — which compressed the early adopter base and kept the peak lower. The combined spatial multi-omics opportunity is what drives interest in single-cell proteotranscriptomics platforms like 10x Chromium with protein detection.
What clinical adoption looks like
The decline from ~32 to ~10 per 1,000 between 2023 and 2026 reflects the technology crossing into routine pharma and biopharma use for immuno-oncology biomarker work. GeoMx panels are now standard in Phase 2 oncology trials for tumor microenvironment stratification. IMC is embedded in translational pathology labs. As those use cases shift from publications to internal proprietary reports, the score naturally falls — the technology is still being used, just no longer being published as a novelty. This is the transition from early adopter academic labs to pharmaceutical operations.
Spatial omics — two layers, two curves
Transcriptomics got there first; proteomics is ~2 years behind with a lower peak. The combined spatial multi-omics story is still being written.
Spatial Transcriptomics
Papers: 6,653
Peak: 146/1,000 in 2020
Current: ~12/1,000 (2025)
Phase: Late Majority
Spatial Proteomics
Papers: 1,856
Peak: ~32/1,000 (2021–2023 plateau)
Current: ~10/1,000 (2026)
Phase: Early Adopters
Where the papers come from
Share of spatial proteomics papers by first-author affiliation, 2019–2026. Parsed from 1,788 affiliations.
Spatial proteomics is the most Western-anchored platform in the index. US institutions have held ~30–35% of first-author output throughout, and China — which leads or co-leads most other platforms — has never overtaken them, sitting near 15% in 2025. The UK was a visible early presence. As the youngest discovery platform here, its geography may yet shift, but for now the center of gravity remains in the US and Europe.
Methodology: Papers fetched from PubMed matching “spatial proteomics” OR “imaging mass cytometry” OR “multiplexed ion beam imaging” OR “MIBI-TOF” OR “cyclic immunofluorescence” OR “CyCIF” OR “highly multiplexed imaging” OR “GeoMx” OR “PhenoCycler”. Diffusion score = top-tier papers ÷ total papers × 1,000. Top 3 = Nature, Science, Cell. Journal tiers assigned locally using a curated list. Years with fewer than 30 papers shown as faded dots (statistically noisy). Data as of June 2026.