laboratory informatics
Software on the ACD/Spectrus Platform can automatically collate, analyse, interpret, and store live analytical instrument data. It can interface with other systems and fit custom workflows to meet a variety of regulatory needs
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to confirm that the level of a particular pesticide in a watercourse was below an upper acceptable limit. Today, however, the regulator may require a whole raſt of information supporting that result. How long did it take the water sample to reach the laboratory and undergo testing? What instrument was used to carry out the analysis? When was the instrumentation last serviced or calibrated?’ In effect, because there is no longer the reliance on paper records, regulators are starting to expect a greater range of data and supporting information to be supplied.
Reaching the tipping point for paper records Many laboratories are still using a paper-based approach to follow the correct procedures and meet all those requirements, but as well as being time consuming, manual processes are associated with significant levels of human error, comments Tetreault. And, as Turston adds, we are quickly moving towards a situation whereby it simply won’t be
6 SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING WORLD
possible to satisfy regulatory requirements with paper records. ‘We are going to reach a tipping point whereby companies will no longer be able to meet regulatory demands using a paper-based system. Tey will be pushed into automation.’ Te breadth and complexity of data
required by the regulator also means that companies are implementing multiple informatics platforms, Turston stresses.
COMPANIES WILL BE PUSHED INTO AUTOMATION
Te food industry, for example, has to comply with HACCP, a field-to-fork safety system that requires the monitoring and analysis of potential biological, chemical, and physical hazards from raw material production, procurement and handling, to manufacturing, distribution and consumption of the finished product. ‘Te manufacturer has to have systems in place that can monitor various processes,
schedule, collect and analyse samples, make decisions on those analytical results and manage HACCP documentation. It’s unlikely that you will have one single application that can do that. What companies need is the ability to integrate a number of platforms as seamlessly as possible.’
Most LIMS can’t manage a bench workflow Tat is where Biovia’s Unified Lab Management solution performs over and above a traditional LIMS, Tetreault suggests. ‘It’s everything that a LIMS system has wanted to do, but has never quite managed’. LIMS platforms are ideally suited to managing samples, scheduling tests, and managing the results associated with those samples, but because most LIMS are focused on the sample workflow they don’t have the ability to manage or deliver a bench workflow, he continues. Biovia’s Unified Lab Management solution combines a LIMS with a laboratory execution system (LES) that is ideally suited
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