Laboratory Automation & Information Management最新文献

Introduction of a LIMS can bring immediate cost-savings and efficiency improvements to a Laboratory. However, peripheral problems can often prevent the full benefits from being realised. For example, in our case, reports generated on paper are subject to postal delays. They are also sent initially to an intermediary, for comments and recommendations to be added (this often means re-typing the report) causing a further delay. Within the Laboratory itself, telephone requests from clients for information on sample progress can consume a considerable amount of staff time. We have addressed both of these problems by use of the Internet. An e-mailing program takes ASCII reports produced from the LIMS and attaches them automatically to e-mail messages. Each can be configured to the specific requirements of the recipient (e.g., the use of encryption, digital signatures, and the document format). World-Wide-Web access to appropriate LIMS databases allows clients to determine progress of samples without involving Laboratory personnel. Read-only access is available to a limited sub-set of data determined by the LIMS manager. Both applications have been created in portable languages, in a way that is suitable for many different environments.

The hypothesis that automation of laboratory processes through LIMS implementation is not itself sufficient to greatly benefit or provide strategic advantage to an organisation is discussed. Traditionally automation has been implemented in order to increase management control over the means of production. As a result the introduction of automation into much of the manufacturing industry has led to increased job dissatisfaction, worker alienation and industrial unrest. This is the case irrespective of the automating technology, e.g. steam-powered machines or computer controlled systems. The specifiers and implementors of LIMS have happily trodden down this well-worn path, without digesting the experiences of other industrial sectors. However, the use of Information Technology to automate business processes provides a unique, additional dimension. IT can provide information about the automated process itself. In this respect IT is an informating technology. The use of computers within an informating strategy focuses on opportunities for continual learning as new data, events and contexts characterising the automated process create chances for additional insights, improvements and innovation. LIMS must informate as well as automate in order to achieve a successful implementation.

With computerized systems like LIMS a lot of data is gathered to support the day to day work in laboratories. Those data contain a lot of information which could be used to analyze working processes in laboratories and to take better based decisions. However the accessibility of the data is poor. A fair amount of technical automation know how is a must. Mostly the support of people from the EDP-department is necessary to get the data available. In practice it means the available information is not really used. The existence of more business needs is known. What about the possibilities to get information from the combined data from LIMS, purchasing systems and logistical systems. The analysis of chains of business processes, improving those chains and to be able to take decisions based upon facts on this chains have an even higher added value than the information hidden within the technical secrets of LIMS. The use of the principles of an Information Warehouse promises to be a solution for this kind of business needs. The paper discusses the different types of Information Warehouses and shows how an Information Warehouse can be realized.

PCs with MS-Office products (WORD, EXCEL) are commonly available at every workplace in analytical laboratories. These programs are used for data processing (EXCEL) and reporting (WORD). If a LIMS is available to store information the question often arises, if and how these WINDOWS programs can be integrated into a LIMS environment. The advantages are obvious: (a) the user can still employ his everyday programs; (b) a spreadsheet is often more appropriate for data input and processing than a LIMS; (c) automatic insertion of LIMS data into a Word document can simplify reporting considerably. Nevertheless, few points must be considered: (a) fast direct data access is necessary; (b) data validity must be guaranteed; (c) data are usually not transferred directly into the database but are presented to the LIMS as a file, which has to pass through a checking procedure; (d) GLP validation of all components (LIMS as well as EXCEL) is required. Our solutions. We employ SQL∗LIMS from PE installed on an Alpha Vax under OpenVMS. For data input and reporting we developed several EXCEL spreadsheets. To extract data from the LIMS database we used the ODBC mechanism based on ORACLE SQL∗NET 2. The ODBC connection is integrated into a visual-basic module of the EXCEL sheet. To ensure data validity we use the ‘LIST of Values’ method. A necessary prerequisite is a download from LIMS of a set of allowed values. Since with analytical data a check against a set of allowed values is often not possible, the amount of values necessary for checks is limited. Plausibility checks can well be performed within an EXCEL spreadsheet. To transfer data to LIMS we employ two mechanisms. A third (stored procedures) is being tested: (a) an NFS connection between a NOVELL-Netware Server and the LIMS—VAX; (b) ORACLE tables on the VAX, into which the data are loaded and then automatically spooled into the respective files. The NFS-connection between the Novell Server (Netware 4.1) and the VAX avoids the necessity for special drivers on the PC. This connection maps a VAX directory onto the PC.

For oxidative stripping potentiometry (OSP) measurement, the achievement of reliable results is highly dependent upon the transport of oxidant to the electrode surface and, as a consequence, careful hydrodynamic control is crucial for reproducibility. Two types of detector system, batch and flow, with three different electrode systems, a standard voltammetric magnetic stirrer cell assembly, an voltammetric cell with optically controlled stirrer and a thin layer flow cell with peristaltic pump were compared. In the sensitivity studies, the static stripping procedure enhanced the sensitivity of the measurement compared to forced convection stripping. The use of a flow cell and peristaltic pump provided all the flexibility needed for OSP measurement. The sensitivity can be improved using the combination of fast deposition and slow stripping flow rates. From the viewpoint of reproducibility of the signals, excellent results were obtained for the use of the flow cell with peristaltic pump.