Laboratory Information Management Systems - An Approach as an Integration Platform within Flexible Laboratory Automation for Application in Life Sciences

Pharmaceutical and biotechnological research claims high throughput of experimental assays running on automated laboratory systems. Complex and flexible laboratory automation requires adaptive laboratory information management systems (LIMS) and a suitable LIMS systems integration. Therefore, the direct, automated, and bi-directional communication between LIMS and laboratory components (sensors, analytical instruments, robot process control systems, cell handling systems, etc.) is key to secure and efficient control of the thereby generated data. The heterogeneous laboratory environment requires a flexible open framework that permits an appropriate syntax and semantic conversion for exchanging the data. After a detailed analysis of different laboratory processes in life science automation, loose system coupling based on a service-oriented approach is suggested for vertical and horizontal systems integration in LIMS. Thus, the involved systems benefit from data consistency and usability. Independence and robustness of the systems is ensured. Extended functionalities (such as integrated process tracking with embedded data visualizations in LIMS) as well as the fulfillment of comprehensive collaborative tasks become possible. This article presents a general concept for this kind of framework by describing an example of a process mapping in the field of drug discovery within LIMS.