Surface and interfacial analytical tools continue to provide new value and find unexpected new uses in the biotech and medical device industries. Some uses are investigational in nature and help solve critical problems within manufacturing and quality control. Other applications fall squarely within the realm of R&D - tilting the balance between feasibility of a product or obsolescence of a project, or providing fresh insight into the nature of biomaterial/biological interactions. By way of example, a study will be presented illustrating how TOF-SIMS was used to image a phosphate-binding drug particle in the complex matrix of the rat gastrointestinal tract. Sample preparation was challenging due to the highly hydrated nature of the tissue material. The results yielded surprising information about the ions that bind to this cationically charged particle and opened new avenues for inquiry and study.