LIMS feature

A LIMS feature is one or more pieces of functionality that appear within a laboratory information management system (LIMS).

The LIMS is an evolving concept, with new features and abilities being introduced every year. As laboratory demands change and technological progress continues, the functions of a LIMS will also change. Yet like the automobile, the LIMS tends to have a base set of functionality that defines it. That functionality can roughly be divided into five laboratory processing phases, with numerous software functions falling under each:

• the reception and log in of a sample and its associated customer data
• the assignment, scheduling, and tracking of the sample and the associated analytical workload
• the processing and quality control associated with the sample and the utilized equipment and inventory
• the storage of data associated with the sample analysis
• the inspection, approval, and compilation of the sample data for reporting and/or further analysis

Of course, there are LIMS features that are difficult to categorize under any of these phases. Such features often contribute to the entire LIMS and how it's utilized. For example, multilingual support appears in LIMS like Assaynet Inc.'s LIMS2010 and Two Fold Software's Qualoupe LIMS, allowing users to interact with the LIMS in more than one language. Some functionality may also overlap several laboratory phases, making it difficult to firmly classify.

The features described below come from an analysis of freely available LIMS product information on vendor websites. An attempt was made to discover the features most utilized in vendors' LIMS products and collect information on those features for each LIMS. Not every possible feature is referenced here; some LIMS products fill specific niches, utilizing very unique functionality to solve a specific problem.

That said, keep in mind the categorization of features below is very loose. It may be viable to argue a feature belongs under a different section or multiple sections. For the purposes of organizing this information in an uncomplicated manner, however, some liberty has been taken in the categorizing of features.

Sample, inventory, and data management

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Sample login and management

Sample management is one of the core functions a modern LIMS is tasked with, whether it's in a manufacturing, water treatment, or pharmaceutical laboratory. As such, researchers who work in these types of labs are unable to complete their experiment-based goals without an effective method of managing samples. The process of sample management for experiments includes, but is not limited to:

• storing related sample information, including aliquot numbers, dates, and external links
• setting user alerts for sample status
• creating and documenting viewable sample container schemas with name and status
• assigning sample access rights

Additional functionality that could potentially fall under this feature:

• utilizing a unique ID system
• barcoding of samples
• defining sample points and series
• creating data associations for samples
• issuing sample receipts

Sample tracking

For most laboratory personnel, knowing that a sample has arrived to the lab isn't good enough; they need to know where it's located and what is being done with it. Enter the sample tracking feature. Without it, many problems arise. In the forensic world, for example, many samples are linked to a criminal investigation. In this case, misidentification, contamination, or duplication can become significant issues: a lost sample is essentially missing evidence, while a duplicated sample can render it useless as evidence.

After sample reception and its initial handling procedures, many LIMS can then track sample location as well as chain of custody. Location tracking usually involves assigning the sample to a particular freezer location, often down to the granular level of shelf, rack, box, row, and column. The process of tracking a sample has become more streamlined with increasing support of 2-D barcode technology. While handwritten labels were the norm, now barcode support in a LIMS can "tie together a vast amount of information, clearly relating each sample to a specific case." Other event tracking such as freeze and thaw cycles that a sample undergoes in the laboratory may also be required. As each laboratory's needs for tracking additional data points can vary widely, many modern LIMS have implemented extensive configurability to compensate for varying environments.

Sample and result batching

What is batching? The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines a batch as "a group of samples which behave similarly with respect to the sampling or testing procedures being employed and which are processed as a unit." This definition can be applied to many laboratories which handle large quantities of samples for some form of analysis or processing. A LIMS that has the ability to check in, link, and track groups of samples across one or multiple facilities is valuable to such laboratories. Additionally, batching the analysis results of multiple samples or groups of samples gives laboratories more flexibility with how they manage their data.

Task and event scheduling

Within the context of a LIMS, the ability to schedule a task or event is a natural extension of how work was done in a laboratory before the advent of data management systems. Workloads are assigned to technicians, maintenance schedules are created and followed, and research deadlines must be observed. While these tasks have in the past been performed without LIMS, a modern data management system can now optimize those tasks and provide additional scheduling functionality to streamline the operation of a lab. Autoscribe Ltd., for example, offers a scheduling module for its LIMS that allows users to automatically schedule multiple jobs, data backups, alarms, and reports. Some LIMS like LabWare, Inc.'s LabWare LIMS offer multiple types of schedulers that match to the particular functions of a research laboratory.

Examples of tasks and events that can feasibly be scheduled in a LIMS include:

• registration of received samples into the system
• production of reports
• creation and sending of e-mails and alerts
• maintenance of equipment
• assignment of workloads to personnel

Option for manual result entry

While many LIMS vendors tout the ability of their product to automate the entry of results into the LIMS database, the need for manual data entry of analysis results still exists. This feature is important to laboratories obtaining analysis results from multiple sources, including non-digital paper-based results and instruments that can't be connected to the LIMS.

Multiple data viewing methods

Laboratories produce data, and LIMS exist to help manage that data. Additionally, even before the existence of LIMS, scientists have had a corresponding need for visually representing data. Today a LIMS can not only collect and analyze data from samples, but it also can represent that data in reports, graphs, gradients, and spreadsheets. Depending on the LIMS, more than one way to visually represent the data may exist.

Some laboratory information management systems take a very specialized approach to data views. For example, Biomatters Ltd.'s Geneious LIMS offers multiple methods of viewing complicated sequence analysis data, including 3-D structuring and representations of plasmid vectors.

Data and trend analysis

Data and equipment sharing

Customizable fields and/or interface

Query capability

Import data

Internal file or data linking

External file or data linking

ELN support or integration

Export to MS Excel

Export raw data

Data warehouse

Deadline control

Production control

Project and/or task management

Inventory management

Document creation and management

Case management

Workflow management

Specification management

Customer management

Billing management

 

Quality, security, and compliance

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Regulatory compliance

QA/QC functions

Performance evaluation

Audit trail

Chain of custody

Configurable roles and security

Data validation

Data encryption

Version control

Automatic data backup

Environmental monitoring

 

Reporting, barcoding, and printing

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Custom reporting

Report printing

Label support

Barcode support

Export to PDF

Export to MS Word

Export to HTML or XML

Fax integration

Email integration

 

Base functionality

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Administrator management

Modular

Instrument interfacing and management

Mobile device integration

Alarms and/or alerts

Work-related time tracking

Voice recognition system

External monitoring

Messaging

Multilingual

Network capable

Web client or portal

Online or integrated help

Software as a service delivery model

Usage-based cost