Lipoprotein analysis by differential charged-particle mobility

A method of analyzing size distribution of lipoproteins, the method comprising:

• providing, via an autosampler, a charged particle stream of a sample to an ion mobility analyzer, the sample including lipoproteins;
• performing, via the ion mobility analyzer, differential charged-particle mobility analysis of the charged particle stream of the sample to generate differential ion mobility data;
• determining, based on the differential ion mobility data, a lipoprotein particle size distribution for one or more lipoproteins, wherein determining the lipoprotein particle size distribution comprises determining a best fit of the differential ion mobility data, for one or more regions of interest for lipoprotein particle sizes, to one or more decaying exponential functions over the regions of interest;
• and
• outputting the lipoprotein size distribution to at least one of a display, a printer, and a memory.

A non-transitory computer readable medium having machine instructions stored thereon, the instructions being executable by a processor of a computing device to cause the processor to:

• receive differential ion mobility data generated by an ion mobility analyzer, the differential ion mobility data being based on differential charged-particle mobility analysis of a sample received by the ion mobility analyzer, the sample including one or more lipoproteins;
• produce, using the differential ion mobility data, a lipoprotein particle size distribution in one or more regions of interest for lipoprotein particle sizes for one or more lipoproteins, wherein producing the lipoprotein particle size distribution comprises determining a best fit of the differential ion mobility data to one or more decaying exponential functions over the one or more regions of interest;
• generate a visual representation of the lipoprotein particle size distribution;
• and
• output the visual representation via a display or a printer.