Components resolved in time by a separator accumulate in a sample cell and are analyzed by electromagnetic radiation-based spectroscopic techniques. The sample cell can be configured for multiple path absorption and can be heated. The separator can be a gas chromatograph or another suitable device, for example a distillation-based separator. The method and system described herein can include other mechanical elements, controls, procedures for handling background and sample data, protocols for species identification and/or quantification, automation, computer interfaces, algorithms, software or other features.

A Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry system comprises: a chromatograph; a mass spectrometer configured to ionize separated fractions of a sample received from the chromatograph; and a programmable processor operable to repeatedly execute the steps of: (i) causing the mass spectrometer to perform a data-independent analysis of the precursor ion species using a mass analyzer of the mass spectrometer; (ii) calculating one or more degree-of-matching scores that relate to detection of an internal standard; and (iii) if each of the degree-of-matching scores meets a respective degree-of-matching condition, performing a quantitative tandem mass spectrometric analyses of both the internal standard and the analyte; the programmable processor further operable to calculate a quantity of the analyte in the sample by comparison between intensities of one or more mass spectral signals generated by the quantitative tandem mass spectrometric analyses of the analyte and the internal standard.

Techniques and apparatus for an acquisition-stage peak width determination process are described. In one embodiment, for example, an apparatus may include at least one memory, and logic coupled to the at least one memory. The logic may be configured to implement an acquisition-stage peak width determination process operative to access acquisition-stage analytical information comprising at least one sequence of data points, determine a peak data point associated based on the peak data point meeting a plurality of acquisition-stage conditions, and determine the acquisition-stage peak width associated with the peak data point. Other embodiments are described.

A chromatographic data system processing apparatus performs data processing based on plot data measured by a chromatograph. The chromatographic data system processing apparatus includes a virtual curve calculation portion which obtains a virtual curve based on the measured plot data, a tentative feature point acquisition portion which obtains a tentative feature point based on the obtained virtual curve, and an actual plot data feature point extraction portion which extracts an actual plot data feature point corresponding to the tentative feature point from the measured plot data.

In order to achieve high sensitivity without an increase in device complexity or cost, a far-ultraviolet absorbance detection device for liquid chromatography is provided with: an optical system including a light source that emits light including far-ultraviolet light, a diffraction grating for dispersing the light emitted from the light source, a flow cell through which a liquid is passed, a slit for selecting a predetermined wavelength of +1 order light diffracted by the diffraction grating and causing the light to enter the flow cell, a first photodetector for detecting the light transmitted by the flow cell, and a second photodetector for detecting light other than the +1 order light diffracted by the diffraction grating; a mechanism for evacuating or substituting the optical system with nitrogen gas; and a computation unit that calculates absorbance from an output signal from the first photodetector and an output signal from the second photodetector. The second photodetector is fixedly disposed.

A chromatography system includes a chromatogram modeling device for synthesizing a modeled reference chromatogram, and an evaluation device for evaluating operation conditions of a chromatography device based on the modeled reference chromatogram.

A waveform data processing device 30 capable of accessing a storage device 40 for storing data on an observed waveform such as a chromatogram, information on a starting point and an ending point of a peak cluster consisting of a plurality of peaks close one another present on the observed waveform, and information on a position of each peak included in the peak cluster and a positive/negative direction of the each peak, includes baseline determination means for determining, based on the data and the information stored in the storage device 40, a shortest straight line or shortest line segments from the starting point of the peak cluster as a beginning point to the ending point of the peak cluster as a finishing point satisfying all following conditions, and determining the straight line or the line segments to be a baseline of the peak cluster: (1) in a section where positive peaks are contiguous, a baseline passes below the observed waveform, becoming a straight line or line segments convex downward; (2) in a section where negative peaks are contiguous, a baseline passes above the observed waveform, becoming a straight line or line segments convex upward; and (3) in a section where positive and negative peaks are contiguous, the shape of a baseline is not influenced by the observed waveform.

In a method for estimating a noise level representing the magnitude of a noise component from measurement data, first waveform data composed of high frequency noise components extracted from assumed noise data are divided into segments so that each section where positive values successively occur or each section where negative values successively occur in the first waveform data is defined as one segment. A segment-width threshold is determined based on the distribution of the widths of the segments. Second waveform data composed of high frequency noise components extracted from measurement data are divided into segments in the same manner. Each segment having a width larger than the threshold is excluded from the segments in the second waveform data, to create a first segment group. The noise level is determined based on the heights or areas of the plurality of segments included in the first segment group.

The detection of minute amounts of components that have been undetectable due to an influence of a mobile phase or reagents or the like added to the mobile phase is realized in LC-MS. At the outset, blank measurement is executed, and an m/z value M.sub.BG of a background signal derived from a mobile phase or the like is extracted on a mass spectrum obtained by the blank measurement (S2-S4). An analysis method is then created that executes scanning measurement in a plurality of divided m/z ranges in which the m/z value M.sub.BG of the background signal has been excluded from a predetermined m/z range. An LC/MS analysis of the target sample is executed according to the analysis method (S5-S6). When a total ion chromatogram (TIC) is created from data obtained by the LC/MS analysis, influence of the background signal hardly appears in the TIC, and the base line is lowered.

A storage stores information of a peak start point, a peak end point, a peak top, and a boundary point and a boundary line between consecutive peaks of a chromatogram, as peak information. The selection processing unit selects the peak information or any peak included in the chromatogram based on the location of a touch gesture to the chromatogram displayed on a display monitor. This configuration contributes to preventing information different from information intended by an operator from being accidentally recognized when the operator makes a touch gesture to a touchscreen display monitor displaying the chromatogram. A correct input signal corresponding to the touch gesture on the touchscreen can thus be transmitted.