Abstract:
An instrumentation network data system that transmits periodically measured instrument parameters or data to workstations residing on a computer network. A laboratory workstation residing on the network periodically collects and processes data from the instruments at predetermined collection time-intervals. The laboratory workstation includes a buffering data file to store the analyzed data. A supervisor workstation residing on the network periodically accesses the analyzed data from the buffering data file at predetermined supervision-time intervals and updates a supervision data file in the supervisor working station with the analyzed data. At predetermined viewing-time intervals, the supervisor working station can transmit the analyzed data to at least one viewing workstation residing on the network for remote viewing of the analyzed data.

Description:
This application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/158,336, entitled “Instrumentation Network Data System,” by Gideon Eden, filed Jun. 21, 2005, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
   TECHNICAL FIELD 
   The field of the invention pertains to the networking of one or more instruments, such as scientific or laboratory instruments, to a plurality of workstations also residing on a computer network. In particular, the invention pertains to periodic sampling of instrument parameters to update parameter values on an automatic basis with manual review by a laboratory operator as desired. 
   BACKGROUND 
   Typically, when monitoring laboratory instruments, the laboratory instrument is connected to computer, at which a user can view the results as they are processed. This requires the user to monitor the system to observe and report the results as they are processed. To communicate the processed results, the user typically must manually send the results over e-mail, or print out the results and hand deliver the results to a supervisor. 
   In situations where a sample is monitored in order to determine purity of a product to be distributed, it is critical to be able to expeditiously communicate the results of the monitored sample. Since a user monitoring the laboratory instrument and computer must take additional steps in providing the results to separate distribution centers and warehouses, there may be a significant delay in releasing a product for distribution and sale. Similarly, any delay in providing an indication that the representative samples are contaminated could result in a contaminated product being released into the distribution stream, potentially resulting in a subsequent product recall and/or product liability litigation. 
   Accordingly, a system able to monitor samples at a laboratory and transmit the results to remote and separate locations may facilitate the timely distribution of products, and prevent the distribution of samples not ready for release. 
   SUMMARY 
   Consistent with the present invention, there is provided a system for monitoring instrument data collected by an instrument comprising at least one laboratory workstation coupled to the instrument, and acquiring and analyzing instrument data; at least one viewer workstation coupled to a network; and at least one supervisor workstation coupled to the laboratory workstation and coupled to the viewer workstation through the network, the supervisor workstation acquiring the analyzed instrument data and selectively providing the analyzed instrument data to the viewer workstation. 
   Further consistent with the present invention, there is also provided a method of distributing instrument data to viewer workstations on a network, comprising acquiring instrument data at a laboratory workstation from an instrument; analyzing the acquired data; acquiring the analyzed data at a supervisor workstation; displaying the analyzed data at the supervisor workstation; and selectively transmitting the analyzed data to at least one viewer workstation. 
   Also consistent with the present invention, there is provided a system for monitoring instrument data collected by an instrument comprising at least one laboratory workstation coupled to the instrument, and acquiring and analyzing instrument data; at least one supervisor workstation coupled to the laboratory workstation the supervisor workstation acquiring the analyzed instrument data; and at least one viewer workstation coupled to the supervisor workstation through a network automatically accessing the analyzed instrument data from the supervisor workstation. 
   It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed. 
   The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrates several embodiments of the invention and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  illustrates an instrumentation network data system consistent with the present invention. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates the communication between components of the network of  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 3  is illustrates an alarm control component consistent with the present invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
   Reference will now be made in detail to the present embodiments consistent with the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts. 
     FIG. 1  illustrates an instrumentation network data system  100  consistent with the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 1 , an instrument  110  is connected to a laboratory workstation  120 . Instrument  110  may be a typical laboratory instrument such as an incubator or contamination monitor, and may monitor a variety of properties of a sample  112 , such as the concentration, purity, and/or contamination of the sample  112 , and provide instrument data on the properties to laboratory workstation  120 . In certain applications, instrument  110  may simultaneously monitor a plurality of samples. For example, instrument  110  may be a Soleris 32 or Soleris 128 incubator and monitoring system, commercially available from Centrus International, Inc. 
   Laboratory workstation  120  includes an input/output interface for communicating with the laboratory instrument and other workstations. Laboratory workstation  120  may also comprise software for analyzing data provided from instrument  110 . 
   As shown in  FIG. 1 , laboratory workstation  120  is connected to a supervisor workstation  130  via a connection  125 . Connection  125  may be of various types, such as a direct connection or a network. Supervisor workstation  130  is in turn connected to a plurality of viewer workstations  140  through a network  150 . Network  150  may be of various types, such as, for example, a wide area network (WAN), a local area network (LAN) or an internet-based virtual personal network (VPN). 
   Workstations  120 ,  130 , and  140  may be computers such as personal computers commercially available from the Hewlett Packard Corporation. Networks  125  and  150  may be operated according to protocols provided by networking software, such as provided in the Windows XP operating system commercially available from the Microsoft Corporation, or in Netware commercially available from Novell, Inc. In certain applications, networks  125  and  150  may operate according to different protocols provided by different network software. 
     FIG. 2  illustrates the communication between instrument  110 , laboratory workstation  120 , supervisor workstation  130 , and at least one of the viewer workstations  140 . 
   Although only a single instrument  110  is shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , certain applications may employ a plurality of instruments  110  connected to a single laboratory workstation  120 . Also, the systems illustrated in  FIGS. 1 and 2  may employ a plurality of laboratory workstations  120  connected to a single supervisor workstation  130  and/or a plurality of supervisor workstations may be coupled to network  150 . 
   As shown in  FIG. 2 , instrument  110  monitors sample  112  and acquires data. Laboratory workstation  120  periodically collects and analyzes data from the instruments, for example, at predetermined collection-time intervals. Laboratory workstation  120  includes instructions stored in a memory  210  for execution by a processor  220 , the instructions including instructions for collecting and analyzing data from instrument  110 , and for determining a collection-time interval. Memory  210  also includes data files, such as buffered data files  215 , to store analyzed data output from processor  220  at or shortly after the collection-time intervals. Memory  210  may include a mass storage device such as a readable/writable disk, and/or may include a volatile or nonvolatile memory device, such as random access memory (RAM) or flash memory. 
   As shown in  FIG. 2 , processor  220  executes instructions stored in memory  210  for periodically collecting data from instrument  110  through an input/output module  230 . Collected data is passed from input/output module  230  to memory  210 . The data is then analyzed by processor  220  in accordance with instructions stored in memory  210 . Data analysis may include determining if the data meets predetermined criteria, such as purity or contamination limits. Analyzed data is stored in buffered data files  215  in memory  210 . 
   Laboratory workstation  120  communicates, via input/output module  230  over connection  125  with an input/output module  240  in a supervisor workstation  130 . Supervisor workstation  130  also comprises a processor  250 , and a memory  260 . Memory  260  contains instructions to be executed by processor  250  to periodically access the analyzed data from the buffered data files  215  in memory  210  at, for example, predetermined supervision-time intervals. The analyzed data from the buffered data files  215  in memory  210  may be accessed either automatically, or in response to a user input, consistent with instructions in memory  260 . Memory  260  may further contain instructions for determining the supervision-time intervals, and may further include a supervision data file  265 , for storing the analyzed data acquired from laboratory workstation  120 . Consistent with the present invention, collection-time intervals and the supervision-time intervals may be pre-configured or user-selected to be identical. 
   In operation, processor  250  executes instructions contained in memory  260  to periodically access the analyzed data from the buffered data files  215  in memory  210 . The analyzed data may then be reviewed by a supervision component  270 . Supervision component  270  comprises a display device  280  to display the analyzed data to enable a supervisor user to review and further analyze the data. Supervision component  270  may further comprise an automated reviewing system, wherein instructions in memory  260  are executed by processor  250  to automatically determine if the analyzed data satisfies predetermined criteria, also contained in memory  260 . After manual or automatic review, a status word residing in, for example, a buffered data file  215  in memory  210  is subsequently updated to indicate that the analyzed data has been reviewed. 
   After manual or automatic review, supervisor workstation  130  determines if the analyzed data should be transmitted to one or more viewer workstations  140 . If so, processor  250  executes instructions contained in memory  260  to transmit the analyzed data from the buffered data files  215  in memory  210  to selected viewer workstations  140  through input/output module  230  and input/output module  240 . The analyzed data or indications thereof may be transmitted to the viewer workstations  140  in response to a supervisor workstation  130  user&#39;s command, or it may be transmitted at predetermined viewing-time intervals. For example, the analyzed data or summaries thereof may be selectively transmitted to some viewer workstations  140  and not to others, in response to predetermined procedures set by instructions stored in memory  260  or in response to manual inputs received from a supervisor user. Consistent with the present invention, collection-time intervals, supervision-time intervals, and viewing-time intervals may be pre-configured or user-selected to be identical. 
   Alternatively, if memory  260  contains a supervision data file  265  storing the analyzed data, processor  250  may execute instructions contained in memory  260  to transmit the analyzed data stored in supervision data files  265 , which is essentially a copy of the analyzed data stored in buffered data files  215 , to selected viewer workstations  140  through input/output module  240 . This may allow the direct transmittal of analyzed data to viewer workstations  140  without interrupting the collection and analysis of data by laboratory workstation  120 . 
   System  100  may configure the viewing-time intervals to be equal to the collection-time intervals and/or the supervisor-time intervals, enabling near real-time transmission of the analyzed data between laboratory workstation  120 , supervisor workstation  130 , and at least one viewer workstation  140 . System  100  may then display the analyzed data at viewer workstation  140 . 
   System  100  may employ a records-locking scheme to avoid data access conflicts among the viewer workstations  140  receiving the buffered data files  215  or supervision data files  265 . 
   In another embodiment consistent with the present invention, system  100  may be configured such that supervisor workstation  130  allows a predetermined at least one viewer workstation  140  to automatically access the analyzed data stored in supervision data file  265  for display on viewer workstation  140 . In this embodiment, supervisor workstation  130  accesses analyzed data in buffered data file  215  of laboratory workstation  120 , as described above, and stores the analyzed data in supervision data file  265 . Memory  260  contains instructions to be executed by processor  250  which allows the automatic access of the analyzed data from the supervision data file  265  in memory  260  by one or more predetermined viewer workstations  140  at, for example, predetermined viewing-time intervals. As above, the predetermined viewing-time intervals may be pre-configured or user-selected to be identical to the collection-time intervals and the supervision-time intervals. 
   Alternatively, memory in one or more viewer workstations  140  may contain instructions to cause the viewer workstation  140  to automatically access the analyzed data in supervisor workstation  120 . Viewer workstation  140  may automatically gain access to the analyzed data over network  150  using protocols provided by networking software of the same type that operates network  125 . 
     FIG. 3  illustrates an embodiment consistent with present invention, comprising an alarm control component  310  connected to supervisor workstation  130 . Alarm control component  310  generates an alarm indication when analyzed data meets predetermined criteria. The alarm indicator may be audible, telephonic, or wireless in transmission, and may include wireless phones  320 , pagers  330 , traditional land-line phones  340 , and email  350 . For example, alarm control component  310  may comprise a system for generating an alarm, as discussed in copending U.S. application Ser. No. 11/183,761, entitled “Method and System for Generating a Telephone Alert Indicating the Presence of an Analyte,” filed Jul. 19, 2005, by Gideon Eden. 
   Consistent with the present invention, alarm control component  310  may also be connected to at least one viewer workstation  140 . Supervision component  270  may determine that the analyzed data does not meet predetermined criteria, and may transmit the alarm through input/output module  240  to at least one viewer workstation  140 , to activate an alarm at the at least one viewer workstation  140 . 
   Consistent with embodiments of the present invention, a sample  112  may be monitored at one location, and the analyzed data from the sample  112  may be selectively shared across network  150  to one or more viewer workstations  140  on network  150 . System  100  may thus periodically provide analyzed data in essentially real-time to viewer workstations  140  on network  150 , and may further provide an alarm when the data meets predetermined criteria. System  100  thus may aid in real-time decision making in determining when a product may be distributed. 
   Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims.