Handbook of Size Exclusion Chromatography and Related ...

Figure 10 Light scattering data presented by ASTRA software from ameasurement of
the same sample shown in Fig. 9but at ascattering angle of about 148.
largerscatteringanglesignalscollectedbytheMALSdetector.Applyingmoderate
data spike removal algorithms to the data of Fig. 10, the data are modified to
appear as shown in Fig. 11. Without knowledge that the data of Fig. 9had been
preprocessed by the software (as well as passing through an on-line prefilter), the
sample associated with Fig. 10 would appear to be quite different. In addition,
werethesource ofthenoise ofFig.10caused byafailing column,theuser would
have been warned by reference to the poor data quality.However, software that
attempts to “beautify” the data without warning the user of such attempts at
cosmeticrepairmustbeavoided.Interestingly,suchhiddendatabeautificationalso
affects the “cleaned” data quality by changing the shape of the eluted peak with
increased filtering.
Softwarethatdoctorscollecteddatawithoutknowledgeoftheuserwilloften
present the user with afeeling of comfort of his/her preparative work to the
detriment of the quality of the final report. In recent years, the Federal Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) has introduced new rules for the pharmaceutical
industry to ensure that data are not modified by the software without providing a
clear, traceable record. Indeed, all drug development and production dependent
upon software-processed data collected by compliant instrumentation must be
compliant with the FDA’sassociated Code of Federal Regulations (Title 21),
Section (or “Rule”) 11 (21 CFR 11, for short) (www.fda.gov/ora/compliance_
ref/part11).Itistheresponsibilityofthepharmaceuticalusertoconfirm(generally
by independent audit) that MALS software is compliant with 21CFR11.
© 2004 by Marcel Dekker, Inc.