Microbiology spectral differences

For PyMS to be used for (1) routine identification of microorganisms and (2) in combination with ANNs for quantitative microbiological applications, new spectra must be comparable with those previously collected and held in a data base.127 Recent work within our laboratory has demonstrated that this problem may be overcome by the use of ANNs to correct for instrumental drift. By calibrating with standards common to both data sets, ANN models created using previously collected data gave accurate estimates of determi-nand concentrations, or bacterial identities, from newly acquired spectra.127 In this approach calibration samples were included in each of the two runs, and ANNs were set up in which the inputs were the 150 new calibration masses while the outputs were the 150 old calibration masses. These associative nets could then by used to transform data acquired on that one day to data acquired at an earlier data. For the first time PyMS was used to acquire spectra that were comparable with those previously collected and held in a database. In a further study this neural network transformation procedure was extended to allow comparison between spectra, previously collected on one machine, with spectra later collected on a different machine 129 thus calibration transfer by ANNs was affected. Wilkes and colleagues130 have also used this strategy to compensate for differences in culture conditions to construct robust microbial mass spectral databases. 

---