Home > Product Lines >
Quartz Custom Solutions
- Overview
- Building Blocks
- Other Expertise
Building Blocks for Custom Solutions
Quartz Imaging has more than a decade of experience developing data acquisitions for analytical laboratories. By drawing upon this experience and, where appropriate, using our pre–built components, we can custom tailor a high quality solution to meet your needs rapidly and cost–effectively.
The cornerstone of our solution is our Windows–based Quartz PCI Data Acquisition and Management Application. With thousands of installations, it is time–tested, stable and well proven. PCI handles the data acquisition, annotation, measurement and reporting in a single application to ensure smooth workflow and correct association of database information with analytical data.
Users outside the laboratory generally interact with the system through our Intranet Image Server web application in order to enter job requests, retrieve results and search for data. Because it is web-based, users do not need to install special software on their work–stations. The web application is also used to manage the laboratory work queue and to produce laboratory performance reports.
The web application can connect to your organization’s existing e–mail system to send status reminders and notices to the appropriate people automatically as requests progress through the workflow. We can also devise methods to connect to existing company databases to retrieve human resources information, lot/sample data and other information.
Data is stored in our Enterprise Database using Microsoft SQL Server. Various security models can be employed to ensure that data can be viewed or modified by only the appropriate people.
Windows Client
Data Acquisition
Quartz Imaging has extensive experience with acquiring image, spectrum and other data from numerous laboratory devices. We will work with you to interface to your particular tool set. The Quartz PCI Client provides a common user interface for all tools, so your laboratory personnel won’t have to learn new software for each instrument.
Database Entry
By combining data acquisition and the entry of the associated database information in a single application, Quartz PCI helps to ensure that the correct database information is associated with the data you collect. Users of the client can easily retrieve job information and enter additional information as their work progresses.
Image Annotation
Quartz PCI’s image annotation tools, including text and various other graphics, operate on a separate overlay layer. This means that annotations can be moved or deleted without interfering with each other or the underlying image. It also ensures that annotations are printed at the maximum possible quality.
Measurement
The Quartz PCI Client includes an extensive set of tools for measuring features in your images. Measurement results are displayed in a spreadsheet grid that makes reviewing the data or transferring it to Microsoft Excel, or other analysis programs, easy.
Image Processing
The Quartz PCI Client includes numerous image processing functions, including contrast, brightness and gamma adjustment, color correction, histogram adjustments, zooming, smoothing, sharpening, median filtering, rotating and resizing. Our consultants can work with you to develop special functions for your application.
Report Creation
The Quartz PCI Client includes a full–featured report layout editor. Reports can be exported in the Microsoft Word and PowerPoint formats, as well as in HTML and Adobe PDF formats. You can design your own report templates, or leave this to our design department who can design custom templates to meet your needs.
Remote Control
Quartz Imaging has done extensive work in the area of instrument remote control. Remote control allows you to interact with distant lab facilities and to provide assistance to less experienced instrument operators without having to visit the lab.
Web Application
Request Submission
Submitting job requests is the first point of contact with the system for your lab’s clients. Our consultants will work with you to develop the appropriate data entry forms for each type of request and sample that your facility, or facilities, handle. If you require, we can implement approval mechanisms so that, for example, the requestor’s manager can approve the request. Throughout the process, automatic e-mail notifications can be used at various points in the workflow to track the progress of the request.
Laboratory Management
The lab manager component allows lab personnel to review requests, edit them as required, assign priorities and assign resources to the job. The lab manager can track the progress of requests through the lab and review and release reports. Again, e–mail is used to notify the requestor when the results are ready.
User Management
Functions are provided for managing the systems users and assigning rights to users. In smaller installations, where server accounts and laboratory user lists are managed by one person, we can integrate the server and laboratory account management in a single web page.
Data Searching
The system permits searching for data relating to a specific job, searching using database fields and searching via full text search of the database and contained documents.
Performance Reporting
Because the time of each state transition is recorded as requests pass through the workflow, it is possible to generate detailed laboratory performance reports. Our software includes a number of standard reports and we can work with you to generate specific, custom reports to meet your requirements. Because the Enterprise Database is built on Microsoft SQL Server, you can also generate reports with Microsoft Access and numerous third-party reporting tools.
Status Monitoring
Web pages are provided for individual analysts to check their task assignments and for others to check the workload of instruments in the lab.
Collaboration
Collaboration allows your clients, via a network connection, to “look over the shoulder” of your analysts and see live video of the work in progress. This helps ensure, for example, that the analyst is actually looking at the correct area of the sample. This reduces having to repeat work in the lab by ensuring that the requestor is delivered the results he or she wants in the first place.
Enterprise Database
Data Storage
We recommend Microsoft SQL Server as the underlying database engine for our system. In our experience, it has proven reliable and relatively easy to maintain. Our advisors can assist your IT personnel to install this system and provide advice as to its maintenance and back-up requirements.
Full Text Indexing
Full text indexing of both the database and individual documents allows you to do “internet search engine” style searches through your data. For example, doing a search for “green precipitate” will scan the entire database and your collection of documents for these words and return a set of results, including images, other data and reports, helping you find previous occurrences of this problem.
Security
Quartz Imaging has developed a security model for SQL Server whereby individual records can be secured much like individual files in the file system. This way, you can ensure that database records can be viewed or changed only by those with permission. For example, security can be established such that each client of your lab can only see results pertaining to his or her own requests, while lab personnel, if desired, can see all results.
