Application of Factor Analysis in Imaging Mass Spectrometric Data Analysis
Abstract The factor analysis method for imaging mass spectrometry data analysis was studied. The imaging mass spectrometric data were obtained by air flow-assisted ionization imaging mass spectrometry method. The sample contained some symbols which were drawn on slides using three color inks (red, blue and black). The imaging data analyzed by factor analysis method were divided into the background, black, blue and red factor. The results showed that the scores of m/z 443.2, 478.4 and 322.2 (344.2) in red, blue, black factor respectively were much larger than others. Therefore, they were markers of the three inks. The results accorded with actual condition well and proved that the application of factor analysis in imaging mass spectrometric data analysis was feasible. The data analysis results of factor analysis and principal component analysis were compared. The results showed that the target sample markers could be extracted by factor analysis simply and quantitatively. It was of great potential in biomarker extraction, diseases diagnose and pharmacological analysis.