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IsotopeTrack Documentation

License: GPL v3 Version Python Platform

IsotopeTrack is a free, open-source desktop application for single-particle ICP-ToF-MS (spICP-MS) data analysis.
It supports Nu Vitesse and TOFWERK instruments and provides a full graphical pipeline — from raw signal loading to multi-element statistical results.

Citation

If you use IsotopeTrack in your research, please cite:

Ahabchane H, Goodman A, Hadioui M, Wilkinson K. IsotopeTrack: A fast and flexible application for the analysis of SP-ICP-TOF-MS datasets. Environmental Chemistry 2026; EN25111.
https://doi.org/10.1071/EN25111

Downloads

Platform Requirements File
macOS — Apple Silicon macOS 11.0+ · 4 GB RAM IsotopeTrack_M.dmg
Windows Windows 10 64-bit+ · 4 GB RAM IsotopeTrack_Windows.exe

Key Features

  • Multi-isotope single-particle detection
  • Transport rate & ionic calibration (3 methods each)
  • Supports Nu Vitesse folders (run.info), TOFWERK (.h5), and CSV
  • Interactive drag-and-drop results canvas with 16 plot types
  • Batch processing and comprehensive export options
  • Light / dark theme, fully responsive UI
1. Load Sample Data      →  File > Import Data
2. Select Isotopes       →  Periodic table interface
3. Ionic Calibration     →  Sensitivity (counts → mass)
4. Transport Rate        →  Aerosol efficiency (3 methods)
5. Mass Fraction/Density →  Per-sample material properties
6. Detection Parameters  →  Method, confidence level, smoothing
7. Review in Canvas      →  Visualize and validate
8. Export               →  Summary + Details CSV

Detection Methods

Method Description
Currie Method Classical detection based on Poisson statistics
Formula C MARLAP-based, balances false positives/negatives
Compound Poisson Log-Normal Advanced — accounts for signal distribution
Manual User-defined threshold

Supported Data Formats

  • Nu Vitesse folder — directory containing run.info
  • TOFWERK .h5 — HDF5 acquisition files
  • CSV — Time-series (first column = Time in ms/ns/s; element columns as 107Ag, 56Fe, …)

Architecture Overview

Run.py
└── SplashCoordinator → ProgressiveMainWindow
    └── MainWindow
        ├── theme.py              (ThemeManager, palettes, QSS)
        ├── Project I/O           (fast_project_io, project_manager)
        ├── Peak Detection        (peak_detection, SIA_manager)
        ├── Calibration           (ionic_CAL, TE_*)
        └── Results Canvas        (canvas_widgets)
            ├── shared_plot_utils / shared_annotation
            └── results_*.py      (16 plot modules)

Code Statistics
Modules 50
Classes 236
Methods 2134
Functions 292
License GPL-3.0
Version 1.0.2

Acknowledgements

IsotopeTrack builds on the work of the SP-ICP-MS community.

SPCal — T. E. Lockwood, R. Gonzalez de Vega, L. Schlatt, D. Clases:

Lockwood et al. (2021). An interactive Python-based data processing platform for single particle and single cell ICP-MS. J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 36(11), 2536–2544. DOI

Lockwood, Schlatt & Clases (2025). SPCal – an open source, easy-to-use processing platform for ICP-TOFMS-based single event data. J. Anal. At. Spectrom. DOI

Compound Poisson models:

Hendriks et al. (2019). Performance of sp-ICP-TOFMS with signal distributions fitted to a compound Poisson model. J. Anal. At. Spectrom. DOI

Gundlach-Graham et al. (2018). Monte Carlo Simulation of Low-Count Signals in ToF-MS. Anal. Chem., 90(20), 11847–11855. DOI