When planning a project of any type, it makes perfect sense to initially research and detail the specifics of the project to lay a solid foundation to work from. This is particularly true with software development, where careful initial planning is vital to ensuring the project is legitimate in the eyes of critical stakeholders and will meet specified goals. This demands the creation of a software requirements specification.  Many specification documents for laboratory informatic systems have been compiled over the years. This updated version incorporates standards and regulations and provides a guidance-based approach to building a spec document for your LIMS. A solid set of LIMS requirements can act as a checklist when determining which LIMS vendor is right for your laboratory. [Read More]

Composable Architecture shifts the focus from monolithic application suites and hosting to use of best of breed solutions as part of a unified platform-ecosystem.  By leveraging business architecture, technologies, and agile thinking, organizations can speed discovery, gain greater agility, and enable flexibility to handle future changes. Many organizations find that the fundamental components to enable Composable Architecture are already in place. [Read More]

In an earlier article¹, we looked at the role laboratory information management systems (LIMS) played in manufacturing/production operations, as well as their relationship to other control/database systems. This article is going to shift the focus to the source of those manufactured/production operations: research and development. [Read More]

One of the many benefits of a Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) is that all laboratory data is captured in one place. This allows laboratories to easily extract Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and detailed management statistics from the data, providing a rich source of information to optimize operations and eliminate wastage. Yet few laboratories take maximum advantage of this capability.  [Read More]

GLP lays down a very important principle that the data captured or entered in the system must be accurate. In order to ensure accuracy, GLP necessitates computerized system must have the capability to validate, verify and filter the data for accuracy. Logilab SDMS ensures that users can verify the data that is captured from the instruments can go through a workflow process. [Read More]

CSols Inc. was recently contracted to validate WinLIMS for Zosano Pharma, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that planned to transition away from paper record-keeping and take advantage of the increased efficiency and data accessibility offered by implementing a new laboratory information management system (LIMS). WinLIMS is a product of Quality System International Corporation (QSI). [Read More]

Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) today announced the release of the AssayMAP Bravo Protein Sample Prep Workbench 4.0 software. This release adds 21 CFR Part 11 compliance-enabling features that allow AssayMAP Bravo-based automated sample preparation in workflows across the biopharma drug development process.  [Read More]

In this 2022 journal article published in Advances in Sample Preparation, Capetti et al. of Università di Torino investigate the advantages and disadvantages that vacuum-assisted headspace solid-phase microextraction (Vac-HSSPME) may lend to the process of Cannabis inflorescence preparation and subsequent testing, by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS), in order to accurately characterize both terpenoid and cannabinoid profiles. After providing an introduction on the topic, the authors describe the materials and methods used, as well as the results of their study. They conclude that "compared to standard HSSPME, vacuum conditions in the headspace ensure the fast recovery of cannabinoid markers at considerably lower sampling temperature (i.e., 90°C) that do not discriminate the most volatile fraction nor cause the formation of artifacts when the sampling time is minimized." They add that, in combination with GC-MS, Vac-HSSPME can prove to be "fast, totally automatable, and solvent-free," representing a more green analytical approach to Cannabis inflorescence testing.