Handheld computers to improve lab efficiency

With the advent of powerful and robust handheld devices (or PDAs) and associated operating systems (Windows Mobile/CE) new, cost-effective options are available.

CSols says it is producing powerful software solutions for these devices.

Here it describes one product, Portable Worksheet Manager.

This is particularly well suited to analytical laboratories that have some low volume methods (either manual or using instrumentation) ie, most laboratories.

In fact anywhere that is currently entering data on paper or directly into Excel would almost certainly benefit from this technology, it says.

In most laboratories it is just not simply practical to place PCs at every place where analysts need to work.

This generally boils down to a cost issue, but this may also express itself as shortage of space to put a PC or lack of suitable network connections etc.

With a PDA it is possible for the analyst to easily take his/her computer around the work locations, making and breaking connections to instruments and data systems (such as Lims) as required.

PDAs come in many shapes and sizes and with a wide mix of features.

Significant ruggedness, in particular, comes at a cost.

Prices vary from £200 ($400) to £2000 ($4000).

Choosing the right model for an operation is an important decision and CSols says it will be happy to give advice on such things.

Most PDAs are focused on using a stylus on a touch sensitive screen for data input (including text) and doing the kind of pointing activities that are handled by a mouse on a PC.

Using a stylus effectively takes a little getting used to at first but soon becomes second nature.

Text entry is easiest at first using a popup virtual keyboard on the device screen.

However, handwriting recognition features are surprisingly effective.

Some PDAs can be purchased with keypads but they tend to increase the bulk of the device significantly.

Screen real estate is always at a premium on a PDA and CSols's advice would be to buy the one with the largest screen consistent with the level of portability required.

Character sizes tend to be displayed at similar sizes to on a PC so visibility should not be a particular problem.

Operating system.

Windows dominates handheld device systems just as it does with PCs.

There are various flavours of Windows.

You are likely to see CE and Windows Mobile referred to.

Essentially both of these have the same foundations but CE tends to be more variable in the functionality and add-ins that might appear.

Windows Mobile is much more standard and comes with cut down applications familiar to PC users - pocket versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook etc.

Most Windows PC users will feel familiar with navigating round the various parts of the system.

Many people are used to using Wifi in their homes for broadband connections to the internet.

Wifi is extremely common in PDAs and is potentially one of the most useful technologies in the laboratory.

Wifi is of interest in the laboratory environment because it can allow the device to have a wireless connection to your network from anywhere within the laboratory.

In practice, this is highly useful as the PDA can do things like querying Lims for worklists or reporting results back at any time and from any place.

Such things can be done by other mechanisms (Bluetooth, docking, etc) but these can only be done from particular locations.

However, you should not assume that your IT department will allow Wifi use as potentially it could jeopardise network security if not setup correctly.

Many IT departments are becoming more relaxed with regard to its use and, with increased attention being paid to Wifi security, its future in the laboratory environment will undoubtedly become more widespread.

Like Wifi, Bluetooth is a wireless technology but it is of much shorter range (~10m).

Many of us use it for connecting mobile phones to hands-free headsets or GPS equipment.

CSols sees its use in the laboratory as particularly applicable to the collection of data from instruments.

Increasingly, simple instruments such as balances and meters are becoming available with optional Bluetooth capabilities.

For those devices that do not have Bluetooth it is extremely easy to add that capability using an adapter.

These typically cost around £100 ($200).

Once an instrument has Bluetooth it is straightforward for a user to walk up to say a balance, make a wireless connection and collect weights into a suitable application.

Many PDAs have integral barcode readers.

Even for those that do not it is relatively easy to purchase an add-in barcode reader.

These are normally of the type that plug straight into the end of the PDA - effectively making the whole PDA into a barcode scanner.

Any scanned barcode is effectively 'typed' into the current program location.

This is particularly useful in laboratories where samples and/or tests are identified by barcode.

All types of readers are available including RFID, scanners and 2D barcodes.

Handling laboratory data: the current situation.

Large amounts of data flow to and from instruments from Lims in a typical analytical laboratory.

Where data flows are particularly heavy - for example with a high throughput instrument - most laboratories have automated the activities using instrument integration software (such as links for Lims) running on a PC.

Such systems might cost £5k ($10k) per instrument and, although they tend to run on the instrument's PC, new networking is generally required.

For lower volume instruments, or those situations where there is a combination of manual and instrument data, the cost and operational benefits often do not match the potential outlay.

So even in the most automated of laboratories there are many methods and instruments that are handled fully manually - with the consequential error rates that it inevitably brings.

By using PDAs, the cost effectiveness is restored - not necessarily via cheaper hardware and software but rather because the cost is shared across many instruments and methods (including manual ones).

Portable worksheets.

It could be argued that the most universal tool in an analytical laboratory is that of the worksheet.

When working manually, analysts often carry around sheets of paper detailing the samples and their analytical requirements and write in results to predefined places on the worksheet.

Even automated analytical instruments effectively use worksheets (often called other things like sequences, sample sets etc) to setup the run and then subsequently fill in the results in a report.

Because PDAs are portable, CSols has taken the concept of worksheets a little further and uses the term portable worksheets (abbreviated to PWSs).

These are manipulated on the PDAs using a PWS Editor.

Of course there may be many PDAs operating in a laboratory and they need managing and facilities provided for sharing data, archiving, communication, etc.

This is done via a PC-based PWS hub.

The whole system it refers to as a portable worksheet management system (PWSM).

PWSM architecture.

A typical system is based round a PC-based hub.

The hub performs management, coordination and archiving for perhaps many PDAs in a lab.

It also handles external connectivity - eg allowing communication with Lims.

The PDAs are connected to the hub intermittently - maybe by being docked or by Wifi.

Normally the PDA is being used around the laboratory and it may have data entered to manually, via barcode or directly from instruments via Bluetooth.

Real world systems may be simpler or much more complex than this.

In describing the building blocks we will start with the simplest approach and build up.

The simplest solution.

At its simplest, a laboratory may only have one PDA running the PWS software.

This might be configuring, creating and manipulating portable worksheets in an entirely manual fashion.

It might only be printing out completed worksheets.

Even in this most trivial of situations most laboratories would see benefits.

The methods would be systematised and controlled.

Data entry would be assisted (pull down lists, barcodes etc) and where possible checked.

Calculations would be performed automatically.

Even so, there is some benefit in being able to connect this simple PC to the hub in some way (Wifi, Bluetooth or docking) from time to time because the PC brings other benefits - ability to archive large amounts of data, access to other programs, systems etc.

Therefore the base system that may be purchased comprises one PWS Editor to run on a PDA and hub software to run on a PC.

Connecting some instruments.

To connect to simple instruments such as balances or meters, they must have either a native Bluetooth connection (unlikely) or a serial connection (likely).

In the later case a Bluetooth adaptor would be required for each instrument.

Then using the optional universal serial driver connections can be established.

One PDA can have as many instrument connections as required (normally only one is active at a time).

The user walks to the instrument in question, establishes a link and the PWS Editor software talks directly to the instrument.

Note that the initial connection to the Instrument will require some configuration.

The universal serial driver has been designed to be user configurable but normally this will be done as part of an installation.

And a connection to Lims.

To connect to Lims, the hub PC must share a common network with Lims and a suitable Lims driver installed.

This latter activity will normally be undertaken by CSols.

Once connectivity is established, worksheets may be created using data in Lims and results may be posted to Lims.

If the PDA has a continuous connection to Lims (via the hub) then it can access these activities at any time.

Otherwise, the PDA saves all the requests (eg, send the results from this worksheet to Lims) and processes them all as soon as a connection is established.

And some more PDAs.

Working with additional PDAs is straightforward.

Each is given a unique name and then when it is attached to the hub, the hub discovers and relevant details it needs to work with the new device.

Now with more PDAs attached, additional functionality becomes available on the hub.

It is now possible to share methods between PDAs and to pass partially completed worksheets from one to another (including their audit trails).

In addition, it opens up the possibility of using global values across many worksheets/PDAs.

Global variables are held in a database on the hub and typically might include variables like calibration factors.

Some worksheets might use global variables and some might update them.

This provides powerful system wide coordination without conscious user action.

More technical information.

There is a more detailed technical description of the PWSM software available.

This is in the CSols technical reference sheet TRS0020 technical description: Portable worksheet management system.

CSols will supply software only or combinations of hardware, software and services.

CSols also offers support contracts for all items that it sells.

For simple systems, most customers would be able to progress a system themselves - with a little help from our support people.

For larger systems (especially where there are significant Lims/IT issues) it may be worth having us perform the initial establishment of the first few PDAs.

You can easily add subsequent PDAs yourself.