What is ELNDocSend App?

ELNDocSend App allows you to send your paper annotations, notebook pages or other pictures directly to LabCollector Electronic Lab Notebook in a few clicks. With this app you can simply take photos, edit them, take notes and send them to ELN add-on. A lot of options are available with the version 3.0.

Make everything digital in few steps

Connect your app

You can find the application directly on the Google Play Store by typing “labcollector”. You will find all the applications developed and usable with LabCollector LIMS (view our catalog). Select and install ELNDocSend.

The application must then be connected to the ELN LabCollector. To do this, you need to configure the LabCollector API. Everything can be done very easily thanks to our step by step guide.

Step 1: Take a picture

Take a picture with the camera of your mobile phone or with a PDA in one click. The ELNDocSend v3.0 application is directly connected to the camera app of your phone, allowing you to access all its innate features.

Step 1: Edit the picture

The application connects to all your editing applications on your phone. If you have for example Google Photos, the application will propose you to edit your image directly in this application. Multiple features are then available: crop, adjust brightness, contrast, blur… the catalog of filters can also be used!

Step 3 & 4: Scan & Send to ELN

Send the photos in a few clicks! Choose the book, the experiment and finally the page where you want to send your document. You can do it manually or by scanning a simple QR Code present at the top of the page. Your document will be visible a few seconds after sending directly on the selected ELN page.

Stop losing time, make everything digital!

You like paper notes and having illustrations of your experiments in your ELN but it’s often a considerable waste of time to add all this to your ELN. Thanks to the ease of use of the ELNDocSend application, everything is faster and easier. Update your Electronic Lab Notebook with old documents from paper lab notebooks, add your notes from an experiment without having to transcribe everything and add all pictures you want and need! Extend the possibilities, make everything digital!

The 3Q approach

Validation of software before its use is essential to guarantee the quality of data processing. In the context of software, the 3Q approach is followed in the process of validation.

Overall, the goal of performing IQ, OQ and PQ is to ensure that the software can be implemented successfully and that all functionalities can be used without any problems.

These 3 steps should generally be done in order. Once the installation is complete, the functionality can be tested, and the performance measured.

Installation Qualification (IQ)

Installation Qualification (IQ) is the validation process to verify that the supplied software can be successfully installed on the specified environment, with the specified configurations.

Operational Qualification (OQ)

Operational Qualification (OQ) includes all the tests to be performed in order to verify that the software is operationally ready to be deployed to customers. The key functionalities of the software are verified in this validation process. The team of testers is in charge of this step and all the tests performed and the results must be provided in a document for the customer.

Performance Qualification (PQ)

This key step is the Performance Qualification (PQ) to ensure that the software, when installed on the final system, can handle the real load, respect the expected response time and does not fail in case of high demand or spike in use when connecting users simultaneously.

Validate a LIMS for better performance!

The success of the IQ-OQ-PQ validation process is a very important step for all the actors. It not only gives confidence in the software, but also gives peace of mind to the customer and the vendor’s team. This validation makes it possible to meet the compliance requirements set by the FDA (FDA 21 CFR Part 11) or ISO.

Performing IQ-OQ-PQ also reduces the risk of a live deployment and eliminates failure.

LabCollector’s teams help you from start to finish! If you need to validate the system to meet the demands of certification bodies, we will perform the IQ, OQ, PQ process for you. Don’t hesitate to contact us for more information.

Start your FREE trial with LabCollector LIMS now!

What is High Availability (HA)?

High Availability (HA) describes systems that are reliable enough to operate continuously without failure.

“Availability” includes two periods of time:

• The time during which a service is accessible
• The time the system needs to respond to user requests.

High Availability refers to systems that provide a high level of performance and operational quality over a relevant period of time.

Why is High Availability important?

Preparing for unexpected events helps reduce and avoid disruptions and downtime. Sometimes these events can knock out even the most robust and reliable software and systems.

High availability systems minimize the impact of these events and can often automatically recover from component or even server failures.

Using a high availability system with LabCollector ensures that your LIMS runs optimally.

LabCollector Server Manager Pro & High Availability

High Availability function is now available on the new version of LabCollector Server Manager Pro 3.1.

Problems with server failure are no longer a problem! Data will always be available!

Thanks to this new feature, the LabCollector database is replicated and LabCollector files are synchronized continuously and especially in real time. Any changes in the main server will be applied instantly on the backup server. To do so, you just have to activate the synchronization directly from the LabCollector Server Manager interface (see image 3). Read our Knowledge Base Page to learn more.

When users work on LabCollector, data is sent to server A, called Master. This data is then synchronized in real time on server B, called Replicate, which is what we call replication. (Image 1)

When a problem occurs on server A, the data from LabCollector is sent to server B, the replica. This change of destination server is done simply and quickly from the LabCollector Server Manager application.

When the destination is changed, Server B becomes the new Server A, the replica becomes the master. When the server A is restarted, it will now take the place of the server B, in other words the replica. The replication will then resume. (Image 4)

Best way to backup my data!

Any unexpected event can have more or less serious consequences. Especially when it is a server problem that prevents the use of a web-based solution such as LIMS. Indeed, thanks to the high availability system, all data is permanently replicated. In conclusion, you can use LabCollector safely and without having to worry about problems beyond your control.

One can imagine the impact this can have for a “simple” website. So, for a LIMS containing sensitive or even confidential data, this can be a real problem and lead to information leaks or even a significant loss of money.

To fight against these problems, several solutions can be developed such as data encryption, access management for each user (LDAP) or even a simple disconnection after a period of inactivity. But other means can be put in place. One can however improve the way to connect and access the LIMS by using Two-Factor Authentication and/or the use of a Captcha.

What is the Two-Factor Authentication system?

Dual Authentication or Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) is a “strong” authentication method. When using it, the user must present two distinct proofs of identity in order to access their account.

LabCollector Two-Factor Authentication feature – code can be receive either by email and/or SMS

Most of the time, it is necessary to provide his login with his password and then a one-time code received most of the time by email or SMS.

Of course, this type of connection function requires an additional step. But this technique can help you to make your account less desirable to hackers because it is longer and more complex to crack. This way your data can stay safe!

What is the Captcha Test?

Today the term Captcha is used as a common word because it is becoming more and more widespread. But let’s take a look back at what exactly this term means…

The word CAPTCHA was coined in the early 2000s at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is actually an acronym that stands for Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart. This name refers to the Turing test. This test allows to determine if a software is intelligent enough to pretend to be a human being. Here, the goal is reversed, namely to determine that the user is indeed human by being more intelligent than the machine, which can’t decipher certain images.

The Captcha takes several forms today: a code composed of distorted numbers and letters, images to select or a simple checkbox.

LabCollector CAPTCHA test with letters and numbers

All these tests allow to bring the same answer: Are you a human being? Thanks to this test when you connect to your account, no hacker using a robot will be able to access your account.

What about LabCollector log in security options?

In order to counter external threats and to protect the data of each user as well as possible, LabCollector has decided to make available systems of securing access to the LabCollector account.

It is very easy to activate and adjust the settings directly from your LabCollector account. Adding Captcha, Two-Factor Authentication or both at the same time can give you more peace of mind about the security of your work data!

LabCollector configuration for 2FA and Captcha

You can read our Knowledge Base page to learn more about how to activate and configure these options.

Making your LIMS even more secure is possible!

With the rise of hacking and especially on institutions with important data such as schools, hospitals or important companies, laboratories must also secure sensitive data in efficient ways. Whether it’s research data or patient information, every piece of information is private and should remain so!

Making access to the LabCollector LIMS through the use of Captcha and Two-Factor Authentication is an important step to ensure that everyone involved can be confident that the data is safe!

1. QUICK & EASY

A simple ##case_qr_code## tag has been developed to allow a QR code to be added to the result report template on LSM.

It is generated on the report once the job is completed. The patient can go online, directly on the portal, to download the report using their specific token.
Once the report is in the patient’s possession, the patient can then simply present the QR Code to anyone who needs it. Thus, no need to print the report, take a screenshot of his phone and zoom!
Once scanned, the report is automatically downloaded to the device.

Try now directly with this QR Code ! 

2. SECURED

A problem was created during the implementation of COVID test reports, with the creation of false reports with false results. To overcome this problem, the implementation of the QR Code proved to be an efficient and easy solution.

Indeed, when the QR Code is scanned, it redirects us to the original site where the report comes from. Thus, we land directly on the LSMRemote portal of the laboratory that issued the report. No more doubt about the origin of the report!
Moreover, the downloaded file corresponds to the original report issued. It is therefore possible to see whether the report has been modified or does not belong to the person being controlled.

Avoid fraud, the creation of fakes and simplify the control process!

All this is now possible thanks to a simple QR Code on the result report generated for your patients.
The service to your customers can go even further by helping your patients too!

In a laboratory, it is often necessary to search for information, data, results that we would have written in our laboratory notebook or in a document on our computer. This mission is often complex, long and time consuming. By using a LIMS, all the data is centralized in one place and thus makes it easier to find certain information. However, even if the data is correctly classified and easily accessible, the search can sometimes be complicated if you don’t know where to look.

Thus, in a perspective of continuous improvement of the user experience and specially to make this thankless and time-consuming task easier and faster, a new add-on for LabCollector has been developed. This add-on, named Advanced Search Manager, allows the use of Elasticsearch to find data and information in all types of sources within LabCollector.

What is Elasticsearch?

Elasticsearch is a real search engine! Its goal is to centralize all the data and to ensure an ultra-fast search but above all an increased relevance of the results provided. Data search becomes child’s play!

Whether your data is structured or unstructured, it is possible to launch several types of searches thanks to a multitude of search criteria association possibilities. Thanks to Elasticsearch, it is possible to search for all types of data, numerical, textual, geographic data, etc.

The data are regularly indexed by Elasticsearch in order to find the right information at the right time. The indexing interval is configurable and allows to regularly update the modifications made, thus increasing the reliability and acuity of the searches.

Visit Elasticsearch website to learn more!

Advanced Search Manager and Elasticsearch

The Advanced Search Manager add-on has been developed in order to manage the connection of Elasticsearch within LabCollector. As explained previously, Elasticsearch performs a regular indexing of the data. It is thus possible thanks to the LabCollector add-on to manage the CRON indexing lists (command to an operating system or a server allowing the execution of a job at a precise moment) allowing to establish the frequency of the indexing task.

A. How to install Elasticsearch?

In order to guarantee the best solution, Elasticsearch can be installed in several possible ways:

• Locally: on the client server directly
• Remotely: on the client’s server or on a server rented by the client
• Directly on AgileBio servers
• Elastic SaaS: possibility to use Elasticsearch cloud service but also Amazon Web Service.

B. How to integrate Elasticsearch into LabCollector? 

In order to allow the integration and use of Elasticsearch into LabCollector, it is necessary to use an intermediary to make the connection. An add-on called Advanced Search Manager has been developed to manage the connection between LabCollector and Elasticsearch.

The add-on is already available for download and can be installed on your LabCollector. The add-on, easy to install, allows you to manage the connection to Elasticsearch and the CRON indexing lists (Cron is a standard Unix utility that is used to schedule commands for automatic execution at specific intervals.) (see pictures below). In simple terms, this automatic indexing makes it possible to organize a set of documents and later facilitate the search for content in this indexed documents.

Read our Knowledge Base and follow the steps to install the add-on.

When your add-on is correctly installed, the connection with Elasticsearch is established and allows access to the advanced search within LabCollector and more precisely ELN (deployment on other add-ons and LabCollector to come).

Contact us to discuss about dedicated Elasticsearch service

Advanced Search and Electronic Lab Notebook

The implementation of Elasticsearch thanks to the Advanced Search Manager add-on includes several development phases. First, this advanced search solution was deployed within Electronic Lab Notebook.

As a reminder, ELN is an add-on allowing you to register, manage and save all your laboratory data, your experiments and your results. Acting like a real laboratory notebook but electronic, all the daily information is incorporated into it and therefore needs to be easily found.

Thanks to the new advanced search, it is now possible to find precise information of any kind, present in the add-on in an extremely fast time.

• The search fields

Many fields are available to make the search more precise and therefore more efficient. It is possible to search within the different levels of ELN (book, experiment, page). Other fields such as the name of the document, the name of the author or the tag filter allow you to refine your search and obtain results that precisely meet your requirements.

• Display of results

The results are presented as individual boxes containing the search item(s). Several pieces of information are also provided in order to easily find the source of the information such as the name of the book, the experience or the page.

A score is also assigned to each result. This score shows the relevance of the result. Before starting to score the documents, Elasticsearch first reduces the candidate documents by applying a Boolean test: does the document correspond to the request? True or False. Once the results that correspond to the request are retrieved, the score they receive will determine their ranking according to their relevance. The rating of a document is determined based on the results obtained in the fields of the query and any additional configuration applied to the search.

• Toolbox: Tag management

Another option is also available to manage the tags of several elements at the same time. A Toolbox allows you to select the desired results and add one or more tags to these pages. This option saves a considerable amount of time in tag management and adds an additional search criterion for future searches.

… Find the answer in no time!

This new Advanced Search Manager add-on is ideal for performing accurate, fast and data-intensive searches. You no longer have to search for minutes or even hours to find the information, graph or calculation you need, just ask for an answer!

This Advanced Search is currently available in ELN but will soon be available in other add-ons and on the whole LabCollector.

Search everything and everywhere thanks to Advanced Search Manager add-on!

To help set up LabCollector v6.02 please refer to our Manuals and our Knowledgebase.

Credit: Freepik

Data reproducibility is one of the most important aspects of any research. If you are a drug discovery unit, data integrity & regulatory compliance are of utmost importance. Paper Lab notebooks can only help you with the data reproducibility & integrity to an extent.

Imagine you are a researcher and most of the time you work on a project that was the continuation of the previous one. For this, you refer to the lab notebooks of previous students in order to reproduce certain experiments. I bet, many of you have come across various issues when dealing with the old lab notebooks. How much time does it take you to find the right experiment? Do you find the complete information in the lab notebooks? What is the storage location of the samples? How were the reagents prepared? Let’s say you are a Principal Investigator (PI) and you are trying to publish a paper with results from a student who have left the institute. How much time does it take to find the results? How long does it take for you to leaf through endless pages to find that one image/information for results? Even though after hours/days of searching let’s say you find the results and now you are looking for material and methods. So now you have to find where the reagents came from? where were did the samples came from their location, the antibodies used? and much more information!!! Sometimes the writing is smudged because some liquid splashed on it during a certain experiment. Also, you do not know where the raw data/images are kept. Today’s lab notebook contains some information and the rest is stored somewhere in the computer in bits and pieces!

So publishing a single paper or just trying to repeat a simple experiment from the past becomes a laborious task! Finding information becomes time-consuming, reducing the productivity of the research. All the hard work done in the past & the scientific knowledge with it becomes incoherent. These issues make the data reproducibility, integrity a tough thing to achieve. Even though using paper lab notebooks have been the norm of the past, today they pose a lot of hurdles due to deterioration with time.

This is why LabCollector has developed Electronic Notebook (ELN) to provide you with versatility and at the same time precision, in recording your experiments. You can not only save paper, time and energy but also increase work productivity. All-in-one management ELN brings your entire lab in one place in an organized manner. You can link your reagent recipes, samples, the storage location of samples and reagents, any documents (e.g. Scientific papers, protocols, etc.), information regarding plasmids, antibodies, chemical structures, animals, sequences, equipment, cells & uploading/storing images along with your protocols. ELN today not only makes your research ergonomic but also environment-friendly by saving paper.

Now, let’s revisit the previous scenario with LabCollector ELN. Say you are a PI or a researcher and you are trying to replicate some results or find results, experiments & raw data from previously performed experiments. All you have to do is type in the search box and all the information related to the typed word will appear in front of you.

Moreover, you will see that:

 Imagine how much time you save if was everything was organized in the above-said way. All this and much more is made realistic by our LabCollector ELN. Check out how LabCollector ELN works!!!

The diversity of the functions in LabCollector ELN makes it apt for any type of research. Let it be academic, drug discovery research or a medical device research LabCollector provides you with all-in-one management ELN.

With LabCollector ELN you can go paperless &:

• Link records to the protocols (link samples, reagents, storage locations, documents, primers, etc.)
• Write protocols using a rich text editor
• Draw chemistry molecules effortlessly using Molecules and Reactions editor
• Upload & store photos easily
• Choose what you need to print & save paper
• Make work easier by using templates
• Collaborate & work as a team with easy data exchange 
• Assistance in complying with the regulatory bodies (FDA, ISO.., HIPAA, etc) by electronic signatures, witnessing, validations, timestamps, versioning & login ID security.
• Save your work efficiently by synchronized data backup
• Measure productivity & increase efficiency by using Time sheets

Image Credits:

–Whole-cell, multicolor superresolution imaging using volumetric multifocus microscopy; Bassam Hajj et al PNAS Dec 2014, 111 (49) 17480-17485; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1412396111; France
-Actomyosin, vimentin and LINC complex pull on osteosarcoma nuclei to
deform on micropillar topography; Nayana.T. W et al Biomaterials; CNRS-IS2M, France
–Icons from www.flaticon.com

With today’s advancing lab processes with LIMS software, instrument integration has become an essential part of lab automation. Moreover, labs that need to follow regulations laid by the FDA or ISO, etc need to be more vigilant in their lab workflow. Manual errors can create various hurdles for such labs. Most of the lab processes are today made sophisticated and organized by LIMS such as LabCollector. However, collecting data from instruments and analyzing it, is still something difficult, to attain for many labs. Thus automated data acquisition is becoming a need for every lab. Generally, any instrument can be communicated with the help of API (Application Programming Interface). API communicates with the instrument, by giving commands using a ‘middleware’ application. However, one needs to create commands, by using scripting programming languages, to process the files. This is a work for a developer, which consumes a lot of time and needs to be scripted according to respective instruments. I-Collector is ready to use ‘middleware’ that eases the process of communicating with several laboratory instruments.

Check our webpage to read more about I-Collector automation by LabCollector!

Applications

Plugins

Check our webpage to see the list of instruments compatible with I-Collector

Check out all LabCollector v6.0 today!

To help set up LabCollector v6.0 please refer to our Manuals and our Knowledgebase.

Image/Graphics Credits: –Icons from https://flaticon.com/

In the fast-growing world, where every industry’s endeavor is to balance the supply and demand of things, automation has proven to be a boon to achieve these goals. Although lab automation is being widely practiced nowadays, the initiation of laboratories using automated machines was pioneered long back in the 1980s. Since then automation has become one of the necessities of today’s research practices. Even though various academic labs still occasionally rely on automation, test labs, pharmaceutical, and biotech industries have rapidly evolved themselves to automate their research labs. Right from receiving the samples to its storage and final usage in assays is now being documented with the help of machines and software that help labs automate these processes thus making them efficient.

If you are a researcher you can visualize easily making an inventory of samples, reagents, assays, etc manually, repeating the same process which ate up a lot of productive time. You could have done an experiment during that period or other necessary things. A Ph.D. student or a post-doctorate or any researcher can relate to such situations, where they have wasted hours in tracking a reagent, sample, or making inventories manually. Owing Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS) and automation tools offered by them have changed the laboratory management tremendously over the decades.

LabCollector LIMS allows you to bring all the laboratory information in one place.

It’s not just the automated tools but LIMS that help connect the machines to one main anchor such as LabCollector thereby linking every process in the lab & achieve complete lab automation. Imagine if the machines just sort your sample or reagents or perform assays for you! You will have to use these samples or reagents or results from the machines to complete your experiments or analyze your results. Every researcher can relate to doing experiments, for example using a PCR machine and then analyzing its data in excel sheets to make graphs. Here, you would have to take the results in USB key from the computer near the machine or transfer to a common folder to copy the machine results and then analyze them on your computer. This way only a part of the lab is automated and the rest still depends on manual prowess which is prone to human errors. Thus every lab needs LIMS software which helps in achieving Laboratory automation. LabCollector serves this purpose where researchers can attain the lab automation by various tools and add-ons that it offers.

Check our webpage on Laboratory automation by LabCollector!

LabCollector helps with lab automation by offering:-

Sample management

• Complete sample management starting from the sample receiving to tracking the sample for example, in which tests it was used. Our powerful add-ons and tools such as samples and Strains & cells module, rack scanners, tube sorter, sample to batch tool help your laboratory attain successful sorting and managing your samples.
• Barcode feature allows you to generate customized barcodes thus making samples tracking a piece of a cake. You can visit our website storage accessories to buy compatible sprinters and barcode scanners.

Buy your tubes rack scanners directly on our online shop.

Lab inventory management

• Modules like reagents & supplies, primers, sequences, antibodies, plasmids, chemical structures help you create a hassle-free inventory system. You can integrate all the details relevant to the reagents or supplies needed in the lab.
• Our purchase order management tool helps you track the order and purchase of reagents or supplies that in minimum quantity or are expired. LabCollector creates alerts for such components thereby making it easier to track lab supplies.
• The recipe manager tool helps you keep track of reagents used in making recipes. For example, if you are making Tris-HCl buffer, you can track amounts that are used up in making such recipes so that you are aware of the reagents used up.
• The storage tool helps you mark down the location of all your samples, products, everything that you use in your lab. You can create storage places like a cupboard, or racks or liquid nitrogen containers, freezers, refrigerators, etc to mark the location of your reagents or samples making tracking of the lab supplies much easier.

Experiments / Assays / tests management

• The equipment module helps you to register all your laboratory equipment with its location, maintenance, etc. All the documents related to any instrument, for example, like, calibration or maintenance reports can be uploaded in documents module or can be uploaded in the equipment modules itself.
• Lab Service Management (LSM) add-on is very useful for tests lab offers as it documents and processes tests and generation of reports. Starting from the sample to creating tests and parameters that lab technicians can follow, to the completion and validation of tests is all performed inside LSM. Moreover, it also helps labs to create invoices and keep track of all the tests cost and sending invoices to the clinics/hospitals for the tests performed.
• For a more stringent environment of the lab, our workflow add-on offers precise follow-up of standardized steps in a lab that requires supervisor validations. This can be very useful in drug development labs where every step of experiments require supervisors validations.
• All the assays or experiments or tests performed can be written down in our electronic lab notebook add-on (ELN) which is the replacement of paper lab notebook. ELN allows you to draw graphs, plates temples or link the locations used in the experiment to their rightful location

Instrument integration & data acquisition

• LabCollector offers various add-ons such as I-Colletor, Parser, Win2Parser that help in instrument integration and thus help in automated data acquisition thereby removing manual error while data collection. I-Collector can help the integration of instruments like qPCR and others that help acquire data by parsing directly on your computer.
• Moreover, LabCollector’s custom API feature lab, automation, and integration of data from instruments become more smooth thereby decreasing manual errors in data collection.
• Photobank uploader add-on helps in automated image acquisition which can be useful for saving heavy microscopy images.

LabCollector LIMS helps connect all lab processes!

Check out all LabCollector v6.0 today!

To help set up LabCollector v6.0 please refer to our Manuals and our Knowledgebase