Dienstag, 27. Oktober 2015

Automation at North Oaks Medical Center

In early 2012, North Oaks Medical Center, located in Hammond, La., became the first hospital on the Northshore of New Orleans to automate its laboratory to achieve rapid, secure processing of specimens drawn in the hospital or clinic settings. Lab automation eliminates many of the manual steps previously necessary to process lab results. Use of bar code technology safeguards that the correct tests are run for the correct patient. The end result is that lab results are processed and reported to physicians more quickly so that proper diagnosis and treatment for their patients can be determined.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ORzUhhBe9Q



Automation at North Oaks Medical Center

Montag, 19. Oktober 2015

The LiMSforum group from Linkedin has moved to LiMSforum.com (an editorial)

Earlier in the year, Linkedin made some serious changes to their service that had deprecated their API that allows you to programmatically LIMSlogo-final-icon2access group data.  At that point, the decision was taken to move the LiMSforum group from Linkedin to its own group built on Open Source.  We used WordPress and their huge ecosystem of plugins to build the site you see today.


We finally made the switch from Linkedin to our own site this past week.  Now that it is done, there is no looking back.  The fact is, we now have more functionality and engagement than we have ever had on Linkedin.  We moved all of the discussions over to the new site and the engagement is growing and the membership quite rapidly.



We plan to maintain the Linkedin group until all of the major group members are moved over.  We will share postings from the new LiMSforum site with our legacy group on Linkedin so that we drive more members to the new site.





I invite everyone to browse around the new LiMSforum site and see what all is there currently.  It basically combines the old LIMSforum group from Linkedin, the LIMSwiki, the LIMSblog, LIMSfinder, LIMSpec and LIMSbook into one platform to cover all aspects of Laboratory, Informatics, Medical and Scientific topics related to the operations and management of laboratories through Information Technology.



Under the About Us menu tab we have a Coming Soon section that shows all of the new things that are currently under development and soon to be released.  One of the most exciting is the ability for our members to get Cloud based servers and apps with the push of a button.  We will be providing cloud based LIMS, LIS, ELN, SDMS, CRM, ERP, CMS, LMS and every other app acronym you can think of.



Basically, we are building out a community driven site that provides all of the information, resources and applications your lab needs to operate.  It is socially engaging and provides a marketplace where you can easily purchase laboratory and medical supplies courtesy of Amazon.



There is a lot going on and we have setup a Help forum so that as you navigate LiMSforum and have questions or need help, we have an actively monitored Help Group where you can post your questions on how to use LiMSforum or make suggestions for improvements.




The LiMSforum group from Linkedin has moved to LiMSforum.com (an editorial)

Hamilton`s CO-RE System

CO-RE Hamilton


Nothing can be perfect, but Hamilton`s CO-RE system is epic. They have revolutionised the idea of picking up pipetting tips with nothing more than an O-ring. I don`t know, maybe MacGyver is working in their patent office but this invention is a great USP! You basically reduce the pick-up-force to almost zero, seal the tip to the channel by the expansion of the O-ring, pipette your stuff and release the used tip without contamination problems due to splashing material.



Here is what Hamilton writes about CO-RE:


Hamilton loaded the tips and single and multichannel heads for its Microlab STAR pipetting workstations with performance enhancing features. The result is a superior pipette channel which locks on to the tip rather than the standard method of forcing a tip on a mandrel. This new design, patented as CO-RE (Compressed O-Ring Expansion), assures better tip alignment, seals the tip to the pipette channel, eliminates tip distortion, and minimizes the risk of aerosol contamination. CO-RE also enables on-the-fly swapping of disposable tips with washable needles. As a bonus, it also provides a way to pick up labware manipulation tools with the pipette channels and reduce average system prices


PDF: CO-RE Tips_BR0004-web



Hamilton`s CO-RE System

Sonntag, 18. Oktober 2015

The new Dried Blood Spot Autosampler

Spark Holland has over 30 years’ experience in HPLC and UHPLC instrument innovation, specializing in the field of autosampling and on-line solid phase extraction and, more recently, on-line dried blood spot (DBS) analysis.  Our innovative products have always led the way in injection technology. sample prep integration and flexibility of operation.



Dried blood spot (DBS)

sampling is an emerging technology for bioanalysis, especially useful in the

clinical and pharmaceutical laboratory, offering easy sample collection,

transport and storage. Spark Hollands revolutionary DBS Autosampler maintains the

integrity of the sample through automation, offering time and cost savings.

Innovative patented Flow-through desorption technology (FTD™)* provides direct

elution of DBS from cards, offering not only consistent quality, while

eliminating the inconsistency of tedious manual disc punching or costly

robotics, but also allowing the option of on-line clean-up and analyte

separation by SPE prior to analysis in an automated workflow. Automation of the

entire workflow for DBS analysis in minutes, providing maximum sensitivity without

any manual intervention. With the potential for many other biological samples,

the DBS Autosampler from Spark sets a new standard for analysis!


sa_1444912750DBSXYZ_b crop


See the DBS Autosampler in action or
visit the DBS Autosampler landing site



The new Dried Blood Spot Autosampler

Dienstag, 13. Oktober 2015

Hamilton`s CO-RE System

hamilton technology CO RE


Nothing can be perfect, but Hamilton`s CO-RE system is epic. They have revolutionised the idea of picking up pipetting tips with nothing more than an O-ring. I don`t know, maybe MacGyver is working in their patent office but this invention is a great USP! You basically reduce the pick-up-force to almost zero, seal the tip to the channel by the expansion of the O-ring, pipette your stuff and release the used tip without contamination problems due to splashing material.



Here is what Hamilton writes about CO-RE:


Hamilton loaded the tips and single and multichannel heads for its Microlab STAR pipetting workstations with performance enhancing features. The result is a superior pipette channel which locks on to the tip rather than the standard method of forcing a tip on a mandrel. This new design, patented as CO-RE (Compressed O-Ring Expansion), assures better tip alignment, seals the tip to the pipette channel, eliminates tip distortion, and minimizes the risk of aerosol contamination. CO-RE also enables on-the-fly swapping of disposable tips with washable needles. As a bonus, it also provides a way to pick up labware manipulation tools with the pipette channels and reduce average system prices


PDF: CO-RE Tips_BR0004-web



Hamilton`s CO-RE System

Mittwoch, 7. Oktober 2015

Medtech / Pharma Conference

Final Call for Registration – “Combined solutions for patients” 22-23 October, Zurich



The second international Medtech & Pharma Platform conference focusing on combination products development is almost at our door. If you have not yet registered for the two-day event or the networking dinner, please consider registering now online save time on site. New to the meeting format is 1-on-1 partnering (see below for more details).


I don’t want you miss this great opportunity to connect with international regulatory, patient advocacy, and industry experts and profit professionally from this exceptional program. Download the full program here.


Notable speakers and topics include:


  • Jill Hartzler Warner, FDA’s Associate Commissioner, will present the Division’s current thinking on pathways for innovation

  • Swati Baht, MHRA, Clinical Assessor, will discuss the key clinical aspects required in a submission

  • Thomas Kühler, Novo Nordisk, will examine the patient voice in benefit-risk assessments

  • Edith Hantak, Baxalta, will moderate an intense session looking at industry clinical development strategies and trends as well as regulator and notified body perspectives.

  • Nicola Bedlington, European Patient Forum, will be the Keynote Speaker

1-on-1 partnering


Business-to-business contacts and mutual cooperation can pave the way for bringing products to market more efficiently. With your registration you receive an opportunity to present your business in 1-on-1 meetings to senior management of attending companies. In your profile you can state what kind of expertise you are offering, what kind of cooperation you are looking for, and which ideas you would like to discuss with potential collaboration partners. This exclusive “matchmaking” event at this conference aims to break the ice and get your company and ideas in front of your peers with minimal constraints.


Click here to browse through our database of current registered participants.


Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have any questions regarding the registration process or any part of the meeting organization.


I am looking forward to your registration and to welcoming you in Zurich.



Medtech / Pharma Conference

Montag, 5. Oktober 2015

In-The-Cloud LIMS: A TCO Analysis

There is growing demand for a standardized and economical LIMS (Laboratory Information Management System) architecture in the life sciences industry due to global R&D operations, lack of budgets, stringency of regulatory bodies towards data integrity, and the need for compatible platforms for sharing knowledge/data within the organization and third parties (contract research and manufacturing organizations (CROs and CMOs)). Different companies have adopted different strategies to mitigate their respective challenges in the field of laboratory data management. SAAS based or In-the-cloud LIMS offers a standardized way to help commercial and academic institutions in managing their laboratory data across the globe. Lack of investment in hardware and a high degree of scalability makes Software as a Service-based (SAAS) architecture to be among the most efficient platform to implement global and standardized LIMS. We analyze the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of the SAAS- based or ‘In-the-cloud’ LIMS to understand its applicability as a standardized and cost effective solution to the current laboratory data management challenges faced by the life sciences industry.



Introduction


IT infrastructure plays a crucial role in the success of any organization. Across industries, companies use various types of IT enablers to manage their data. LIMS is one of the most widely used IT platforms in various laboratories across industries. LIMS is used to manage laboratory data generated from different laboratory functions including, but not limited to, sample testing, instrument usage, automation, and report generation. As per industry estimates, LIMS market is valued at around $1 billion in 2015 and is expected to grow at an estimate CAGR of 8 percent until 2019.


In recent years, LIMS has become more critical, especially for the life sciences industry, and is driven by the following factors:


  • Increased and continuous inflow of data from clinical and medical laboratories across the globe.

  • Advancements in the area of proteomics and genomics and the inclination of the pharmaceutical industry towards personalized medicine and rare disease treatments.

  • Adoption of big data and growing demand for better data mining techniques.

  • Developing markets – India, China, and Eastern Europe; are pressing hard for automation, hence creating increased demand for LIMS.

On the contrary, the life sciences industry is facing new challenges in managing laboratory data. Firstly, Global R&D operations of pharmaceutical companies – which include their captive sites and different research (CROs) and manufacturing (CMOs) partners, require LIMS to deliver a suitable platform for sharing, collection, storage and retrieval in compatible format across the functions of different laboratories. Secondly, downturn in economies has reduced financial resources for pharmaceutical companies. With these limitations, laboratories would shift their data management to a global and standardized architecture. Given this scenario, In-the-cloud LIMS could offer a standardized global architecture with optimum cost benefits.


In-the-cloud LIMS Vs. Others


In-the-cloud LIMS is an SAAS-based IT platform to manage laboratory data generated from different laboratory functions such as sample testing, instrument usage, automation, and report generation (Figure 1). SAAS is an on-demand software delivery model where users subscribe the software and access it through a web browser. The provider hosts the software centrally and offers it to the user on the pay-for-use basis1.



Vendors deliver LIMS in various forms based on a user’s requirement. Based on delivery mode, LIMS can be categorized into four types: Purchased Commercial LIMS, Rented Commercial LIMS, Hosted LIMS, and In-the-cloud LIMS. Each type is different in terms of their architecture, deployment method, and requirement for hardware and software support2. This eventually impacts the cost of the LIMS. The supply market of SAAS based LIMS is less crowded as compared to the other types of LIMS. According to Beroe’s findings, around 300+ LIMS vendors are present in the market with greater than 15 percent offering cloud-based LIMS. Table 1 below lists the differences among different types of LIMS.



In-the-cloud LIMS – TCO Analysis


Every sourcing activity is carried out after a thorough understanding of the supply market and the respective cost components of the product or service. Mostly these decisions are derived by analyzing the total cost of ownership (TCO) involved in delivering the service. In Table 1, it could be assumed that In-the-cloud LIMS would offer direct cost savings as the user does not have to invest on IT infrastructure. However, a few primary questions remain unanswered, such as:


  • Are the cost savings sustainable in the long run?

  • Who will be paying for software maintenance?

  • What are the expected cost savings in the long run with In-the-cloud LIMS?

Based on our understanding, the usage period of LIMS software in an organization is around eight to 10 years. To get more clarity on the cost benefits of In-the-cloud LIMS in the long run, we compared its cost with that of purchased LIMS for 10 years of usage. We arrived at the cost analysis as shown in Table 2 below.



In the above analysis, the maintenance cost of purchased commercial LIMS during the first year is not included as it is free for buyers. For the subsequent years, the annual maintenance cost is around 20 percent of the initial license cost. For better understanding of the difference in total cost of ownership, we assume the yearly subscription fees of SaaS-based LIMS is as high as ~25 percent of the initial purchased cost of the commercial LIMS.


According to the above analysis, for company ‘A,’ we assume that the one time license cost of the commercial LIMS is $50,000. Due to best-in-class maintenance practices, the annual maintenance cost is around 15 percent of the license cost i.e. $7,500. Then the total cost of purchase after 10 years is $117,500. Now, if company ‘B’ purchases the yearly subscription of SaaS-based LIMS at $12,500, then the total cost of purchasing SaaS-based LIMS for 10 years is $125,000. This would reap a loss of around $7,500 to company ‘B’ during 10 years. However, in case the usage is eight years, there are possibilities for company ‘B’ to get the benefits of direct cost savings due to the absence of hardware, operating system, and database costs. Also, the risk for company ‘B’ is reduced as upfront investment is less in comparison to the purchased LIMS and switching to other suppliers in case of any constraint.


The total cost of ownership analysis goes beyond the purchase cost and must include the money and efforts spent on managing internal IT infrastructure. In that case, we would find the real benefits of SaaS-based LIMS. Table 3 below shows the hidden costs of a purchased commercial LIMS.



Note: Maintenance hours and charges are subject to many factors such as location and the complexity of issue.


When including the IT infrastructure maintenance cost with the initial cost, the equation changes dramatically in support of cloud-based LIMS. If we include the internal IT infrastructure cost to the analysis of the purchase carried out by companies ‘A’ and ‘B’, then company ‘B’ would earn cost benefits of more than $50,000 over 10 years.


Conclusion


Based on the analysis presented in table 2 and 3, it can be concluded that In-the-Cloud LIMS offers an economical and standardized solution to the laboratory data management needs of big pharma as well as small laboratories of CROs, CMOs, and academia in both developed and developing regions. The purchased commercial LIMS requires more personnel assistance and monetary support for maintenance and other functions such as backup, storage, and recovery as compared to SAAS-based LIMS. Harmonization with the existing systems and data security are the main concerns restraining the users from adopting SAAS-based LIMS. In the near future, these concerns would be mitigated with increased adoption of SAAS-based LIMS as a result of advancement in technology.


http://www.clinicalleader.com/doc/in-the-cloud-lims-a-tco-analysis-0001



In-The-Cloud LIMS: A TCO Analysis