Latest version of leading laboratory information management system includes functionality for the processing of microtiter plates, which are used in high throughput screening experimentation
Thermo LabSystems says that the latest version of its laboratory information management system (Lims), Nautilus 2002 release 1, has begun shipping to customers worldwide.
Nautilus 2002 delivers a host of new features and enhancements designed to further ease system configuration while boosting user productivity through even greater flexibility.
Among the highlights of the new version of Nautilus is functionality for the processing of microtiter plates, which are used in high throughput screening and experimentation.
Such new features, which will be of particular interest to the biotechnology industry, enable users to move existing aliquots (ie individual samples) to new plates.
Aliquot identifiers are updated automatically, along with those of all related plates, as they are moved between plates.
The use of the Nautilus Plate Wizard automates either the splitting or compression of plates without the requirement to create new aliquots.
These enhancements are supported by a new plate processing toolbar to further improve ease of use.
Another area of enhancement is with racks functionality in Nautilus, particularly in verification messaging when adding aliquots to specific racks, which is designed to eliminate errors such as duplication of aliquots.
In the area of system administration, the addition of new workflow tracing functions allows system managers to track the execution of laboratory workflows in the Lims.
This eases the development and validation of new complex workflows and allows the laboratory to rapidly adopt new testing methodologies and procedures.
In changes to the user interface, Nautilus 2002 features drop-down prompts to support very large data sets.
These prompts act similarly to those in Internet Explorer with auto-fill functions for speed of use and are particularly useful for scientists conducting qualitative analysis.
Nautilus 2002 release 1 is being shipped as a major software release to all supported Nautilus customers, with full printed documentation available on request.
