title: Comparative visualization for comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography.
abstract: This paper investigates methods for comparing datasets produced by comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC x GC). Chemical comparisons are useful for process monitoring, sample classification or identification, correlative determinations, and other important tasks. GC x GC is a powerful new technology for chemical analysis, but methods for comparative visualization must address challenges posed by GC x GC data: inconsistency and complexity. The approach extends conventional techniques for image comparison by utilizing specific characteristics of GC x GC data and developing new methods for comparative visualization and analysis. The paper describes techniques that register (or align) GC x GC datasets to remove retention-time variations; normalize intensities to remove sample amount variations; compute differences in local regions to remove slight misregistrations and differences in peak shapes; employ color (hue), intensity, and saturation to simultaneously visualize differences and values; and use tools for masking, three-dimensional visualization, and tabular presentation with controls for graphical highlights to significantly improve comparative analysis of GC x GC datasets. Experimental results indicate that the comparative methods preserve chemical information and support qualitative and quantitative analyses.
authors.affiliation: GC Image LLC, P.O. Box 57403, Lincoln NE 68505-7403, USA.
authors.forename: Benjamin V
authors.initials: BV
authors.lastname: Hollingsworth
authors.forename: Stephen E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Reichenbach
authors.forename: Qingping
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Tao
authors.forename: Arvind
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Visvanathan
mesh_terms: D001555:Benzene Derivatives / Q000032:analysis; D002849:Chromatography, Gas / Q000379:methods*; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D001555:Benzene Derivatives