STTR Phase I: Advanced Informatics for Chemical Imaging: Visualization, Mapping, and Analysis

This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I research project aims to develop a novel software package for the analysis of complex data generated by a combination of time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) and attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy (ATR-IR). Novel algorithms that can facilitate the analysis and visualization of the large amount of information created in mass spectrometric experiments are needed by scientists in the academic and industrial arenas alike. Moreover, as improvements are made in mass spectrometers, the use of these instruments is bound to increase and as such robust and intuitive programs for data analysis will be in demand. The mass resolution and characterization of the surface profiles of heterogeneous material such as cells achieved by ToF-SIMS and ATR-IR results in the generation of large quantities of useful data that require equally powerful algorithms to analyze and visualize. The development of software that can systematically process and display the layers of information produced in such experiments would maximize the usefulness of the powerful hardware that has been developed.