The E-WorkBook Instrument Reader

The E-WorkBook platform is designed for enterprise deployment.

Researchers expect that data can be transferred between systems, to reduce the overhead of transcription and to ensure consistency and quality. With E-WorkBook Integrations, IDBS provides frameworks to seamlessly connect the data management platform with your research systems, leveraging feature-rich APIs and extension points to facilitate integration to instruments and third-party data systems.

The Instrument Reader functionality allows E-WorkBook to integrate to common lab equipment in the form of digital balances, pH meters, pipettes and callipers. This allows researchers to easily capture measurements directly to the electronic laboratory notebook, without the need for manual transcription.

How is the tool used in practice?

The Instrument Reader tool integrates with a networked laboratory environment, to allow for the direct recording of measurement data, which helps to reduce the overhead of writing up experiments, ensuring accuracy and making the process of validation easier in GxP environments. In addition to capturing live experimental data, the tool can also be used in conjunction with the E-WorkBook templates that manage the calibration of instruments.

Measurement data from common suppliers of laboratory equipment are supported, such as Mettler Toledo™, Sartorius™, Eppendorf™ and Ohaus™ amongst others.

Instrument manufacturer logos are the copyright of Mettler Toledo Inc, Sartorius AG, Eppendorf AG & Ohaus Corporation.

How does it work?

Instruments need to be networked for data transfer. Most modern instruments have a TCP/IP port for networking, but older instruments with a RS232 interface can be networked using a serial-to-ethernet adaptor such as Lantronix™.

In the E-WorkBook platform, the administrator can configure the catalog to create a centralized list of all instruments, for easy selection by the end user in their experiment. The catalog is configured to contain names, terms, IP addresses and ports to reference the instruments for usage. Supporting driver information, such as regular expressions, can be added to parse the data received from the instrument for display. It is also possible to configure the Instrument Reader functionality to provide an audible cue to allow the user to be aware of successful readings as well as issues when trying to take readings.

How is it deployed?

The instrument reader component is included with the standard E-WorkBook install and communicates directly with configured networked instruments. In an E-WorkBook Cloud deployment, this communication occurs through a VPN connection to the customer network.

What services/software does IDBS provide?

IDBS Professional Services team will install, configure and test the software on the customer site, configuring the parsing of instrument raw data.

What does the Customer need to provide?

• Networked laboratory instrument infrastructure
• VPN connectivity for the instrument communication
• Availability of the system administrators who manage the E-WorkBook instance (if on-premise) and the laboratory instruments
• GxP validation of the integration component is to be addressed by the PQ process