Integration with LIMS

The challenge of managing records and documents in a fully-functioning laboratory environment in many cases is due to the fact that the concept of records management and an integrated document management application have not been part of any previous information technology planning or laboratory systems design. Furthermore, laboratory personnel may not have even considered the business and legal requirements necessary for effective document management.

Integrating electronic records management systems with automated laboratory information systems is a critical issue for many regulated laboratories. Records and documents can come from laboratory devices as well as word processing, spreadsheet, database, e-mail and Webbased applications. P-Wave's solutions integrate all of these functions into a cohesive work flow that prevents unauthorized access and logs all activity in an FDA 21 CFR Part 11 compliant audit trail.

P-Wave's LabCORE product (www.lab-core.com) is a Laboratory Document Management System (LDMS) specifically designed to integrate with a LIMS. (See Promium Case Study) LabCORE has an open architecture that allows the advantage of a variety of client/server applications and enterprise-wide access to lab information. LabCORE supports database engines such as Oracle, MS SQL Server, Interbase and open-source databases such as MySQL, PostgreSQL and Firebird. In addition, any ODBC enabled database can be accessed. The LabCORE database can import and export data to an existing heterogeneous database network using various protocols such as HTTP, XML, WebDAV, XML-RPC, SOAP and FTP.

Data can also be exchanged through access to external relational databases, or by internal processes that work with formats such as CSV (Comma Separated Value) files. LabCORE enables the capture of data by a variety of methods. Besides uploading documents and data from a browser, documents and data can be captured through XML, relational database access, and client programs which enable dragging and dropping of multiple documents and folders directly into LabCORE.