Comparison of public peak detection algorithms for MALDI mass spectrometry data analysis

Background In mass spectrometry (MS) based proteomic data analysis, peak detection is an essential step for subsequent analysis. Recently, there has been significant progress in the development of various peak detection algorithms. However, neither a comprehensive survey nor an experimental comparison of these algorithms is yet available. The main objective of this paper is to provide such a survey and to compare the performance of single spectrum based peak detection methods.