Mass spectrometer

摘要

A hardware module which operatively carries out a method of compressing mass spectral data, the method comprising: receiving a first signal output from an ion detector of a mass spectrometer; processing the first signal to a digital signal at an output being data frame types representative of the first signal output; temporarily storing the data frame types in a memory block and reading a data frame from the memory block and determining its data frame type and according to its data frame type compressing the data frame according to one or more compression algorithms to generate a compressed data output stream.

主权项

1. A method of compressing mass spectral data, the method comprising:
receiving a first signal output from an ion detector of a mass spectrometer; processing the first signal to a digital signal at an output being one or more data frames representative of the first signal output; temporarily storing the one or more data frames in a memory block; and reading a data frame from the memory block and determining a data frame type of the data frame and according to the data frame type compressing the data frame according to one or more compression algorithms to generate a compressed data output stream, wherein the one or more compression algorithms include:
for each data point, flagging the data point if a maximum intensity of a hypothetical mass spectral peak to which the data point contributes exceeds a predetermined threshold intensity, wherein said maximum intensity of a hypothetical mass spectral peak to which the data point contributes is estimated using data from data points within a theoretical expected profile or footprint of the hypothetical mass spectral peak, and said theoretical expected profile or footprint of the hypothetical mass spectral peak is determined from expected characteristics of an instrument used to perform the method; andwhen all relevant data points have been processed, deleting any data points that have not been flagged.