Automated Generation of Animl Documents by Analytical Instruments

Abstract

The scope of this project covers the storing of result data produced by generic laboratory devices during processing of analytical experiments, the data describing the examination methods, and the audit trail using the Analytical Information Markup Language (AnIML) standard. This project also considers the integration of generic devices in automated laboratory environments. AnIML is an upcoming ASTM standard format for recording analytical data and workflows with accompanying experimental metadata. Adapting this standard to existing instruments currently requires manual intervention. The goal of this project is to automate as many steps as possible in generating an AnIML document with all its essential information supplied directly by the analytical instrument. Software with such functionality could be integrated into analytical instruments or reside in firmware boxes hooked to the instruments. This would allow a smooth transition to the new standard even in complex existing environments. A set of prerequisites have to be fulfilled before the feasibility of this approach can be shown. The prototype application we describe here integrates the generic description of an instrument using the Laboratory Equipment Control Interface Specification, Object Management Group (LECIS OMG) Device Capability Dataset. Information about the device's commands and the device's data stream with its semantics can be found there. The experiment's metadata are provided by the test order. In both cases, XML schemas contain the information syntax. Using this information, we developed a generic interface that maps the result stream semantically and then transforms it into an AnIML document without manual intervention. At this time, we have completed and tested a prototype implementation and are working to support the full functionality of both the LECIS OMG and the ASTM AnIML standards. (JALA 2006;11:247–53)