Automated data collection

Bioprocess Control An industrial fermenter is a fairly sophisticated device with control of temperature, aeration rate, and perhaps pH, concentration of dissolved oxygen, or some nutrient concentration. There has been a strong trend to automated data collection and analysis. Analog control is stiU very common, but when a computer is available for on-line data collec tion, it makes sense to use it for control as well. More elaborate measurements are performed with research bioreactors, but each new electrode or assay adds more work, additional costs, and potential headaches. Most of the functional relationships in biotechnology are nonlinear, but this may not hinder control when bioprocess operate over a narrow range of conditions. Furthermore, process control is far advanced beyond the days when the main tools for designing control systems were intended for linear systems. 

It is interesting to trace the development of instrument automation over the relatively brief period of the past ten to fifteen years. Early in this period, a truly automated instrument was a rare and expensive item built around a costly dedicated minicomputer. Automated data collection and analysis from any instrument which was not automated at the factory was usually accomplished by digitizing the data and storing it on a transportable media such as paper tape. These data were then delivered and fed to a timeshare system of some sort on which the data reduction program ran and which printed a report and sometimes a plot of the data. Often a considerable time delay occured between the generation and the analysis of the data. The scientist was at the mercy of the computer elite who could implement his data logger and provide the necessary computer resources to analyze his data. The process was expensive, both in time and in money. 

A Waters Model 150C ALC/GPC was interfaced to a minicomputer system by means of a microcomputer for automated data collection and analysis. Programs were developed for conventional molecular weight distribution analysis of the data and for liquid chromatographic quantitative composition analysis of oligomeric materials. Capability has been provided to utilize non-standard detectors such as a continuous viscometer detector and spectroscopic detectors for compositional analysis. The automation of the instrument has resulted in greater manpower efficiency and improved record keeping. 

Benefits have been realized from the automation of the Waters Model 150C ALC/GPC in several areas. First, a significant amount of time has been saved by performing automated data collection with automatic injection during night operation while unattended. Secondly, record keeping is more complete and accurate. This has... 

Special rules apply in the case of automated data collection systems the person responsible for data collection must be identified at the time of data input. Changes in automated data entries must be made in such a way that the original entry is saved, and the person responsible for making the Copyright 2003 Marcel Dekker, Inc. 

An automated laboratory requires written SOPs to demonstrate adequate control over automated data collection systems. The minimum SOP topics are... 

The comprehensive and complete training of all personnel interfacing with the automated data collection system must be delineated in a laboratory policy. 

A major function of the QA unit is to provide proof that the laboratory s automated data collection system(s) operate in an accurate and correct manner, consistent with the recommended function. 

Laboratories using automated data collection systems must... 

The operational definition of raw data for the laboratory, especially as they relate to the automated data collection systems used, must be documented by the laboratory and made known to employees. 

All raw data, documentation, and records generated in the design and operation of the automated data collection system must be archived in a manner that is orderly and fa-cihtates retrieval. If stored on the system, such data must be... 

Laboratories utilizing automated data collection systems must provide such control of those systems that current and future system performance can be assured and that data integrity can be maintained. Consistent, accurate, and reliable system performance depends on the control of laboratory facilities and equipment requirements, as well as software requirements. Functional testing, a requirement for both equipment and software, and source code review of software are also required to provide control of system performance. 

Security of automated data collection systems is a major factor in maintaining data integrity. It involves the following three major elements. 

Laboratories using automated data collection systems must evaluate the need for systems security by determining whether or not their systems contain confidential data to which access must be restricted. If it is determined that access should be restricted, security procedures must be implemented. 

Security must be instituted on automated data collections systems at laboratories if data integrity is deemed to be an area of exposure and potential hazard. 

This means for improvement concerns the experimental procedures that are used to collect and analyze the calibration samples. In PAC, sample collection can involve either a highly automated sampling system, or a manual sampling process that requires manual sample extraction, preparation, and introduction. Even for an automated data collection system, errors due to fast process dynamics, analyzer sampling system dynamics, non-representative sample extraction, or sample instability can contribute large errors to the calibration data. For manual data collection, there are even more error sources to be considered, such as non-reproducibility of sample preparation and sample introduction to the analyzer. 

Was automated data collection used Hard copies Written SOPs... 

Data System. An IBM-PC desktop computer is interfaced to the instrument control module to provide automated data collection and analysis. The data collection and analysis programs are menu driven. A data management facility is an integral part of the data system. A modeling utility is provided to aid the operator in chosing the operating conditions (rotational speed, spin fluid volume, fluid density, etc.) for a sample. Programming is done in compiled BASIC and the 8087 math coprocessor is used to improve computational speed. 

Chemists use a wide range of physical techniques for studying the structures and reactions of the molecules they are interested in. One of the skills they need is the ability to choose and exploit the most appropriate technique for studying the particular molecules of interest. X-ray crystallography is the ultimate arbiter of chemical structure and in many cases it is now the method of choice the use of automated data collection and direct methods of structure solution have reduced many problems to a routine level. However, crystallography has many limitations beyond the obvious need for crystals it cannot tell us anything about solutions, however pure they may be, or conformational equilibria, or complex mixtures or reaction kinetics. For this type of information, the chemist must turn to other physical techniques, such as some form of spectroscopy. 

Will automated data collection and reporting be used ... 

A DuPont Model 990 Thermal Analysis Console with Model 910 DSC accessory was interfaced to a minicomputer system by means of a microcomputer for automated data collection. A program to provide the analysis of reaction kinetics data by the single dynamic scan method for DSC kinetics was developed. Features of this program include a fit of the data to a single equation by multiple regression techniques to yield the reaction order, the energy of activation and the Arrhenius frequency factor. The rate constant k(T) is then calculated and conversion data as a function of time and temperature can be generated at the operator s option. 

Robotic sample changing and automated data collection is an increasingly important aspect in the efficient utilization of MAS NMR for combinato-... 

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