FOURIER PROCESSING OF LIQUID CHROMATOGRAMS USING FLOW RADIOACTIVE DETECTION

Plow radioactivity counters coupled to liquid chromatography devices c ause a systematic bias to the separation by broadening peaks within th e radiochromatogram. Such signal smearing may be evaluated on standard ization runs with a single peak, using the ratio between Fourier trans forms of whole chromatographic data for the measured radioactivity tim e series (radioactivity channel) and for the concentration time series (optical density channel). This ratio constitutes a kernel suitable t o perform the deconvolution of any radiochromatogram performed under s imilar conditions. Through deconvolution, the signal smearing is remov ed, reverting to peaks with the same geometry as in the concentration chromatogram: same retention time, peak width, and shape. The deconvol ution method in processing radiochromatograms allows an easier interpr etation and gives more reliable radioactivity quantification (improved linearity of the measured response). Fourier transformation of the ra diochromatogram also allows the removal of transitory events (noise) t hrough the correlation procedure. This method may provide substantial gain in sensitivity, depending upon the residence time of the sample i n the counting cell. (C) 1995 Academic Press, Inc.