USING MATRIX CONVOLUTION FILTERS TO EXTRACT INFORMATION FROM TIME-OF-FLIGHT MASS-SPECTRA

This paper describes the application of matrix convolution filters to time-of-flight matrix-assisted laser desorption mass spectra to improv e the appearance of a particular spectrum and to extract peaks from po orly resolved signals. These filters are commonly used in image enhanc ement to sharpen blurry images and remove noise because of their gener al applicability and their modest requirements for calculation speed. The theory of these filters is discussed, as applied to mass spectra, and examples of spectra processed using a variety of filters are shown to demonstrate the improvements and artifacts that can be generated.