Laboratory Information Management System analytical methods

Every analytical laboratory, governmental, private, or university, has a standard set of procedures that provide both general and specific information to laboratory members. These fall into certain categories, including the laboratory s standard operating procedures (SOPs), quality assurance/quality control manuals (QA/QC manuals), procedural manuals, analytical method files, and laboratory information management systems... 

The quality of an analytical result also depends on the vaUdity of the sample utilized and the method chosen for data analysis. There are articles describiag Sampling and automated sample preparation (see Automated instrumentation) as well as articles emphasizing data treatment (see Chemometrics Computer technology), data iaterpretation (see Databases Imaging technology), and the communication of data within the laboratory or process system (see Expert systems Laboratory information management systems). 

The sample in this method is a semiliquid and therefore it is easier to automate and to combine both the sample preparation and analysis into one operation. Furthermore, the cost of this system is little more than the additional switching values over the chromatograph needed for a manual method. If the data system is combined with a laboratory information managing system (LIMS) virtually the whole of the analytical method can be automated. 

FIGURE 33-1 Steps in the analytical process showing possible automation methods. LIMS = laboratory information management system. 

When the analytical laboratory is not responsible for sampling, the quality management system often does not even take these weak links in the analytical process into account. Furthermore, if sample preparation (extraction, cleanup, etc.) has not been carried out carefully, even the most advanced, quality-controlled analytical instruments and sophisticated computer techniques cannot prevent the results of the analysis from being called into question. Finally, unless the interpretation and evaluation of results are underpinned by solid statistical data, the significance of these results is unclear, which in turn greatly undermines their merit. We therefore believe that quality control and quality assurance should involve all the steps of chemical analysis as an integral process, of which the validation of the analytical methods is merely one step, albeit an important one. In laboratory practice, quality criteria should address the rationality of the sampling plan, validation of methods, instruments and laboratory procedures, the reliability of identifications, the accuracy and precision of measured concentrations, and the comparability of laboratory results with relevant information produced earlier or elsewhere. 

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