Patent ID: 7910877

Claim:
A method of deconvoluting mass spectral data from a complex sample, the data comprising 3-D peaks, each 3-D peak having a retention time, m/z value and abundance; said method comprising: identifying 3-D peaks that share a same retention time; and from the 3-D peaks sharing the same retention time, identifying a series of 3-D peaks of which the m/z values are related, said m/z values being related to one another as follows: m/z =( M±im a )/| i| (1), where M is a positive number and represents a proposed neutral mass; m a is the molecular weight of a charged moiety; i is an integer; the ± sign is + when the charged moiety carries a positive charge and − when the charged moiety carries a negative charge; wherein said series of 3-D peaks is determined as corresponding to the same compound.