Mass spectrum data processing

A method for obtaining mass spectrum data of a sample, comprising the steps of:

• providing, in a memory element, a plurality of data sets obtained by analyzing said sample using a mass spectrometer device comprising a magnetic sector instrument for dispersing ion beams carrying ions of said sample along a first direction in accordance with their ion mass-to-charge ratios, and that defines a focal plane extending in the first direction and along a second direction that is perpendicular to said first direction, ion beam deflection means for deflecting, along the second direction, ion beams that exit said magnetic sector instrument, and further comprising ion detection means arranged along said focal plane,
• wherein each data set indicates detected ion counts at a plurality of positions along said first direction;
• executing, on a computer:
• for each data set, providing calibration data of the mass spectrometer device in the memory element, wherein the calibration data associates positions along said first direction of the focal plan in a given data set, to corresponding ion mass-to-charge ratios;
• generating a calibrated data set for each of said data sets, by mapping the detected ion counts at each position in a data set to a corresponding ion mass-to-charge ratio, using the corresponding calibration data;
• and
• for each ion mass-to-charge ratio, combining the mapped ion counts of each calibrated data set, thereby generating accumulated mass spectrum data of said sample.