Retention Time Drift

Screen chromatographic retention-time drift against an alignment window.

Description

Retention-time drift compares an observed chromatographic time with a reference.

Retention-time drift compares an observed chromatographic time with a reference. A symmetric tolerance treats early and late deviations equally.^[1]

Screen chromatographic retention-time drift against an alignment window.

When to use Retention Time Drift

Use this tool to screen chromatographic retention-time drift against an alignment window.

Prepare the measured profile, formula counts, upstream model outputs or caller-defined reference criteria requested. Keep paired entries aligned and units, sample basis and preprocessing consistent.

How to use Retention Time Drift and understand its results

Prepare the measured profile, formula counts, upstream model outputs or caller-defined reference criteria requested. Keep paired entries aligned and units, sample basis and preprocessing consistent.
Enter referenceRetentionSeconds, observedRetentionSeconds, maximumDriftSeconds using the field table and calculation rules, then run the tool.
Read driftSeconds, withinWindow. The explanation below defines the units, signs, ordering and any flags or placeholder values.
If the tool reports an input issue, correct the values and run it again. Apply the stated assumptions when interpreting a successfully returned result.

Input field	Meaning	Value type; see rules below	Requirement
referenceRetentionSeconds	Reference retention seconds	number	Required
observedRetentionSeconds	Observed retention seconds	number	Required
maximumDriftSeconds	Maximum drift seconds	number	Required

Enter nonnegative times and maximum drift in seconds. Return signed drift and inclusive window flag.

drift=observedSeconds−referenceSeconds; within=|drift|≤maximum

Units, indexing, boundary conditions and exceptional cases are defined in the calculation rules above.

Output field	Meaning	Value type
driftSeconds	Drift seconds	number
withinWindow	Within window	boolean

json

{
  "input": {
    "referenceRetentionSeconds": 100,
    "observedRetentionSeconds": 102,
    "maximumDriftSeconds": 3
  },
  "output": {
    "driftSeconds": 2,
    "withinWindow": true
  }
}

Limitations and assumptions

No peak identification or chromatogram realignment is performed. Comparable peak identity and method conditions are assumed.

Numeric inputs must be finite. Follow the calculation-specific rules for overflow, underflow and exceptional cases. Missing required fields, extra fields, wrong value types and violations of the calculation rules are input errors. A successfully returned false flag is an evaluated outcome; its meaning is explained above.

Alternative or Complementary methods

Use Signal Drift Correction: Correct injection-order signal drift using aligned QC trend estimates. For a complementary task, use Peak FWHM: Interpolate chromatographic full width at half maximum.

References

Retention Time Drift — tool.io

Similar or alternative tools

Signal Drift Correction
Correct injection-order signal drift using aligned QC trend estimates.
Peak FWHM
Interpolate chromatographic full width at half maximum.