Patent ID: 8073635

Claim:
A method for quantitation using data from a mass spectrometer, comprising: acquiring a plurality of calibration ion mass spectra for each of a plurality of known quantities of a material; determining from the plurality of calibration ion mass spectra a plurality of calibration ions that identify the material and for each calibration ion of the plurality of calibration ions a linear range over which an intensity of the each calibration ion varies linearly with quantity and a linear function for the linear range; acquiring a plurality of sample ion mass spectra for an unknown quantity of the material; measuring a sample intensity for the each sample ion of a plurality of sample ions from the sample spectra; after acquiring the sample spectra, selecting one or more sample ions from the plurality of sample ions that correspond to one or more calibration ions of the plurality of calibration ions such that a sample intensity of each selected ion of the one or more ions is within a linear range of a corresponding calibration ion; and calculating the unknown quantity from one or more sample intensities of the one or more sample ions and one or more linear functions of the one or more calibration ions corresponding to the one or more sample ions.