Labman Automation Ltd.

Sample Tracking & LIMS Integration

Contact our LIMS Integration specialist for more information:
Robert Talintyre

Labman are increasingly finding that the growing need for automation in laboratories (and elsewhere) is fuelled by a need for greater throughputs, cheaper cost per test and quicker turnaround times.

Quite often the samples need to have tests performed within a period of time (for example to perform the test before the sample degrades or oxygen ingress occurs). They also need to be disposed of in a timely fashion so that store space is available for new samples (for example when a cooled storage area or fridges are used).

Many of our customers are finding it increasingly difficult to manage all their samples and even locate samples when testing needs to be performed. Our experience, for example with the Vitens project where over 2000 water samples were arriving and being automatically processed each night, shows we can track, locate and perform the necessary tests on the samples at the correct time intervals. We can schedule tests to be performed in a particular order. We can update any LIMS database in real time, either by directly updating the database or by a regular directory filesweep by LIMS.

LIMS Interfacing

As Labman develop customised software, along with the bespoke robotic systems we produce, we can tailor make your LIMS interface. We can both control the equipment you want to integrate into your laboratory and workstations (via ANY IT connectivity method - e.g. RS232, USB, bluetooth, wi-fi etc), and create a software layer to connect the equipment to your LIMS system and database. Additionally we can integrate our equipment across the network or LIMS to allow our systems to sequence and work together as in our fully automated labs.

Sample Tracking

We have developed many interfaces to our customers LIMS systems. The best example of which is the Intranet developed for Vitens. This system allows samples to be found throughout the building from any computer terminal. This data can also be made available to customers via a web login facility. There is therefore no need for a customer to phone or request a report on their samples, as they are readily available over the Internet. This facility could be useful in any industry, from water testing, to blood samples, to soils. It also greatly reduces the need for data inputting and postage of reports.

Field Based Sample Tracking

Labman have developed PDA sample tracking software using Global Positioning Satellite systems. This GPS based software allows samples to be traced from the moment they are taken. Such software ensures that the sample was taken at precisely the correct location and can schedule the route the sample taker should use to get each of the samples they need to collect. A built in barcode reader can also allow the collector to associate each test to be performed with the sample bottle or container at the site. All data can be transferred back to the laboratory (via GPRS) before the sample arrives allowing the laboratory to have a running record of the number of samples that will need to be processed that day. Priority samples can also be sent back out to the sample collector via the same GPRS method.

Sample Storage

As sample tracking has developed, we have found an increased demand for sample storage and retrieval to simplify the locating of samples. Automated stores and retrieval are now a big part of our systems. They can be small stores such as our 'stackers' fixed to each robot module, or conveyor tables with individual lanes, or large stores with robotic arms running the length and retrieving samples from various positions and levels. Such a recent store is shown below. Such stores can be conditioned to suit the samples e.g. cooled or heated. Samples can be stored in other container types such as totes or crates. Automatic sample disposal is also available so that samples are removed when a period of storage time has elapsed.