US 2011/0216952 A1 · Method and Apparatus for Processing Mass Analysis Data

Abstract

The present invention aims at providing a method and apparatus for presenting, based on an enormous amount of data collected by an imaging mass analysis, information which is significant for understanding the tissue structure and other information of a biological sample and which is intuitively easy to understand to analysis operator. For each pixel 8b on a sample 8, the mass-to-charge ratio m/z (i) corresponding to the maximum intensity MI(i) in the mass spectrum is extracted, and all the pixels are grouped into clusters in accordance with their m/z (i). One cluster corresponds to one substance. Then, the largest maximum intensity MI(i) among the maximum intensities of the pixels included in a cluster is extracted as the representative maximum intensity MI(cj) for each cluster, and these representative maximum intensities MI(cj) are displayed with cluster number cj. When an operator specifies one or more clusters to be displayed by reference to these MI(cj), different colors respectively are assigned to the specified clusters, and a cluster image in which the pixels included in each cluster are colored is created and displayed. On the cluster image, the spatial distributions of a plurality of substances are shown in different colors. Simultaneously, an integrated mass spectrum of all the pixels is displayed, in which the peaks corresponding to the selected clusters are colored in the same color as in the cluster image.

Claims6

Dependent claims

A mass analysis data processing method for processing data collected by performing a mass analysis on each of a plurality of micro areas set within a two-dimensional area on a sample, comprising:

a) a first step for extracting a mass-to-charge ratio giving a maximum intensity for each of the micro areas, based on mass spectrum data corresponding to the micro area;
b) a second step for distributing the micro areas into a plurality of clusters based on the mass-to-charge ratio obtained in the first step;
and
c) a third step for creating a colored two-dimensional image corresponding to a whole or a part of the two-dimensional area by assigning, for given one or more clusters among the plurality of clusters, a display color to a micro area or micro areas belonging to the clusters, the display color being different for each cluster, and for displaying the colored two-dimensional image.

1 more element

A mass analysis data processing apparatus for processing data collected by performing a mass analysis on each of a plurality of micro areas set in a two-dimensional area on a sample, comprising:

a) an information extracting means for extracting a mass-to-charge ratio giving a maximum intensity for each of the micro areas, based on mass spectrum data corresponding to the micro area;
b) a clustering means for distributing the micro areas into a plurality of clusters based on the mass-to-charge ratio obtained by the information extracting means;
and
c) a display information forming means for creating a colored two-dimensional image corresponding to a whole or a part of the two-dimensional area by assigning, for given one or more clusters among the plurality of clusters, a display color to a micro area or micro areas belonging to the clusters, the display color being different for each cluster, and for displaying the colored two-dimensional image.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Method and Apparatus for Processing Mass Analysis Data

Life of this patent

Method and Apparatus for Processing Mass Analysis Data

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims6