Patent ID: 8838393

Claim:
A method for comparing samples, each having a plurality of compounds, comprising: receiving a reference dataset representing a relative separation of a plurality of compounds included in a reference sample; receiving a target dataset representing a relative separation of a plurality of compounds included in a target sample; creating a reference topography map based on the reference dataset, wherein the reference topography map has topographic variations and includes a plurality of peaks representing one or more compounds; creating a target topography map based on the target dataset, wherein the target topography map has topographic variations and includes a plurality of peaks representing one or more compounds; identifying peak information for each peak in the reference topography map and the target topography map, wherein peak information for each peak includes at least one of a peak height, a peak location, a peak volume, and a peak order; calculating a comparison metric for each pair of corresponding peaks in the reference topography map and the target topography map based on the identified peak information; generating a similarity partition based on the calculated comparison metrics that represents a similarity in topographic variations between the reference topography map and the target topography map; and generating a dissimilarity partition based on the calculated comparison metrics that represents a dissimilarity in topographic variations between the reference topography map and the target topography map.