13. affinity-based biosensor Device able to detect the concentration of analytes by their specific binding with several biotransducers, such as receptors, aptamers or antibodies.
14. alignment The data processing step where one corrects for artifacts created by the analytical instrumentation; for example, retention time (RT) variations or shifts along the m/z axis between samples. Alignment is critical for many mass spectrometry (MS)-based detection methods and separation approaches, as well as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) data from complex samples. It must be performed to verify one-to-one correspondence between the variables being compared in order to accurately ascertain the differences in the chemical compositions between samples.
15. ambient ionization Mass spectrometric analysis performed where gas-phase ions are generated under ambient conditions outside the instrument and without sample preparation.
