Instrumentation Laboratory

Balances, volumetric flasks, pipets, and ovens are standard pieces of laboratory instrumentation and equipment that are routinely used in almost all analytical work. You should be familiar with the proper use of this equipment. You also should be familiar with how to prepare a stock solution of known concentration, and how to prepare a dilute solution from a stock solution. 

The idealized calculations of the efficiency of the parts of an x-ray spectrograph (4.3, 4.4) can be modified to apply to a laboratory instrument if account is taken of the pulsating character of the applied voltage, the polychromatic nature of the x-ray beam, and the absorption in the beam path. 

The international normalized ratio (INR) is a method to standardize repotting of the prothrombin time, using the formula, INR = (PTpatie t/PTcontroi)ISI, where PT indicates the prothrombin times (for the patient and the laboratory control), and ISI indicates the international sensitivity index, a value that varies, depending upon the thromboplastin reagent and laboratory instrument used to initiate and detect clot formation, respectively. 

The computer has become an accepted part of our daily lives. Computer applications in applied polymer science now are focussing on modelling, simulation, robotics, and expert systems rather than on the traditional subject of laboratory instrument automation and data reduction. The availability of inexpensive computing power and of package software for many applications has allowed the scientist to develop sophisticated applications in many areas without the need for extensive program development. 

Computers have become an accepted part of our daily lives both at home and in the work-place. This has been made more bearable by the fact that they have become unobtrusive. One now uses many computerized appliances or laboratory instruments without a conscious awareness of dealing with a computer. The mystique and ritual surrounding computers has dissipated and if frequent reference to the user s manual is necessary, it is an indication that one should probably look for a better system. The computer has become a tool and a good tool is expected to perform useful functions in an uncomplicated manner. We are no longer awed by the computer and the wonders it can perform, we have simply come to expect these "wonders". 

Laboratory applications of the computer, as evidenced by this symposium, are concentrating more on the result, and less on the hardware required to accomplish that result. A few years ago, a symposium of this type would have concentrated on the automated collection and analysis of data from laboratory instrumentation. Each paper would read like a chapter from "Tom Swift and His Electric Lab Whiz" and would dwell on the details of circuit diagrams and program flow charts. These papers were presented by... 

Data Management, Analysis, and Reporting Alternatives for Laboratory Instrumentation... 

T.F. Niemann, M.E. Koehler, and T. Provder, "Microcomputers Used as Laboratory Instrument Controllers and Intelligent Interfaces to a Minicomputer Timesharing System," in Personal Computers in Chemistry> p- Lykos, Ed,... 

In a less fortunate situation, air for the laboratory instruments came from an overhead distribution system, often with high air velocities which carried along contaminants. Servicing of this air cleaning system was both frequent and costly. 

Owing to the personal interest and experience of the authors, the emphasis in this chapter is on using computers for drug discovery. But the use of computers in laboratory instruments and for analysis of experimental and clinical data is no less important. This chapter is written with young scientists in mind. We feel it is important that the new investigator have an appreciation of how the field evolved to its present circumstance, if for no other reason than to help steer toward a better future for those scientists using or planning to use computers in the pharmaceutical industry. 

UmOAR, H. L., 1892, J. Iron St. Inst., 1, 164. lOTT, A. and Home Dickson, J., 1951, Laboratory Instruments] London, Chapman Hall. 

A complete record of all data secured in the course of each test, including all graphs, charts, and spectra from laboratory instrumentation, properly identified to show the specific component, dmg product container, closure, in-process material, or drug product, and lot tested. 

Plan ahead for those brief periods of slack time, and use them productively. In many laboratories, instrument maintenance, operator training, and staff development are in chronic deficit. During slack time, those deficits can be addressed. 

Miniaturisation of scientific instruments, following on from size reduction of electronic devices, has recently been hyped up in analytical chemistry (Tables 10.19 and 10.20). Typical examples of miniaturisation in sample preparation techniques are micro liquid-liquid extraction (in-vial extraction), ambient static headspace and disc cartridge SPE, solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE). A main driving force for miniaturisation is the possibility to use MS detection. Also, standard laboratory instrumentation such as GC, HPLC [88] and MS is being miniaturised. Miniaturisation of the LC system is compulsory, because the pressure to decrease solvent usage continues. Quite obviously, compact detectors, such as ECD, LIF, UV (and preferably also MS), are welcome. 

The considerable importance of computerization in electroanalysis has been well illustrated by the many examples in the earlier part of this chapter microprocessors in laboratory instruments and on line computers for automation have become common features. However, a few additional remarks on electroanalysis and its future computerization may still be useful. 

This section also concerns itself with the ability to review laboratory test procedures and laboratory instruments used. It is stressed that reserve samples of marketed products must be retained in their original containers for at least 2 years after the final distribution of a lot or at least 1 year after the drug s expiration date. In this same light, laboratory data for each batch or lot of drug should be retained for these time periods... 

Laboratory automation has traditionally meant laboratory instrument automation. While the automated collection and analysis of data from laboratory instruments is still a significant part of laboratory automation, in the modern automated laboratory it is only a part of a larger perspective with the focus on task automation. Simply stated, the goal should be to automate tasks, not instruments. 

The provision of these office automation tools to the scientist must be done in a way which integrates the office activities with the lab activities. Global planning must be done for the implementation of a comprehensive system which includes laboratory Instruments, robotics, office automation, graphics, molecular, reaction and other modeling tools, information retrieval and all the other computer resources required by the modern scientist. 

The computer age has brought about considerable innovation in the operation of laboratory instrumentation. One consequence of this is the wider acceptance and utilization of the optical microscope as a quantitative analytical instrument. A brief literature survey illustrates the diversity of disciplines and optical methods associated with the development of computer interfaced optical microscopy. This is followed by a description of how our methods of fluorescence, interferometry and stereology, nsed for characterizing polymeric foams, have incorporated computers. 

Although many spectrometer designs have been produced over the years, the vast majority of laboratory instruments are based on the simplified block diagram shown in Figure 1.4. Plane-polarized microwaves are generated by the klystron tube and the power level adjusted with the Attenuator. The Circulator... 

The usability of the various available machines, in particular in regard to time-resolved measurements, is proportional to the flux that they are able to shine on the sample. Table 4.1 shows typical data. Modern laboratory instrumentation (rotating anode) is approaching the performance of older synchrotron light sources. 

Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Instrumentation for Environmental Monitoring. Vol. 1, John Wiley and Sons, New York, NY (1983). 

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