Systems and methods for automated alignment, calibration and standardization of electrophoresis data

A system comprising:

• a separation channel comprising a separation medium,
• a power source for applying a potential across the channel to cause a sample to migrate therealong,
• a detector for measuring signal intensity associated with a sample migrating along the channel as a function of time;
• and
• a computing portion comprising a computer-readable medium containing software code embodying executable instructions for:
• receiving a first set of data comprising a plurality of signal peaks over time corresponding to an electrophoretic separation of a known ladder standard,
• allocating respective standardized values, expressed in virtual units, for the peak- migration times, the virtual units corresponding to peak-migration times of ladder components of the known ladder standard,
• fitting a polynomial curve to the ladder standard, thereby generating a first polynomial model,
• determining an offset from the origin in the first polynomial model,
• translating the first polynomial model, using the offset, to pass through the origin, thereby generating a translated first polynomial model,
• receiving a second set of data comprising one or more peaks over time corresponding to an electrophoretic separation of a mixture comprising (a) one or more respective unknown analytes, (b) an upper bracketing standard, and (c) a lower bracketing standard,
• determining a peak for the upper bracketing standard,
• adjusting the slope and curvature of the translated first polynomial model in equal proportions to the upper bracketing standard, thereby generating an upper bracketing standard model,
• determining a peak for the lower bracketing standard using the upper bracketing standard model,
• fitting a polynomial curve to (a) the upper bracketing standard, (b) the lower bracketing standard, and (c) the origin, thereby generating a second polynomial model,
• combining the second polynomial model and the offset, thereby generating a final reference model, and
• transforming the second set of data into virtual units using the final reference model.

A method comprising:

• applying a potential across a separation channel to generate a current therein and to separate a sample comprising an unknown analyte in the channel so that an electropherogram of a signal as a function of time is produced,
• during the separation, measuring the current between the ends of the channel as a function of time,
• integrating the current with respect to time to provide a cumulative current as a function of time,
• using a reference standard, constructing a reference model that relates cumulative current values to migration time values, and
• using the reference model, adjusting observed migration time values for the sample to current normalized time values to generate an aligned the electropherogram for the sample.