Microscope Digital Image Acquisition Solutions

Quartz Taipan

The web-based instrument booking process

The Taipan Instrument Booking Software is a complete web-based booking module that allows regulated booking of instrumentation in the laboratory.

The Taipan Booking System puts you in full control of the operation of the instrumentation in your laboratory and offers your users a quick and convenient web-based method to book or check instrument availability.

ACCESSIBILITY, CONVENIENCE and ACCOUNTABILITY… Taipan has it covered in your laboratory.

The log-in process

With the high cost of instrumentation in the laboratory most corporations or research facilities are eager to protect their assets by ensuring that the instruments are used only by the right people at the right time.

Using our optional Gatekeeper software, Taipan only allows authorized users to access the control GUI of the target instrument.

Once the simple log-in procedure is completed, the instrument is instantly available for use. Gatekeeper simply obscures the instrument GUI, so there is no need to wait for the instrument software to restart each time a user logs in. At the same time, the ID of the user is logged to the Taipan administration database as well as the time of the start of operation. At the end of the instrument session, the user logs out of the instrument and the time of the end of the session is recorded in the administration database.

An optional RFID reader and log-in card system is also available to further simplify the log-in process. RFIDs work by encoding user information on to a tiny microchip that is embedded into a credit card like device. Users are able to operate the instrument by passing their ID Card over a card reader that is installed at a convenient place on the instrument. The card reader instantly authorizes approved users and logs the session as before. Your users have the benefit of self check-in and check-out on the instrumentation. No manual log-in procedure is required while maintaining the very highest level of asset management for your valuable investments.

Administration software allows easy set up and operation of an RFID asset tracking system within the Taipan system. Card programming software is provided to the laboratory administrator and re-usable RFID cards may be purchased for any number of users. The Taipan user database can handle thousands of users, if necessary. What better way to make sure that your valuable instruments are being used in the correct manner by authorized users?

ASSET MANAGEMENT, SECURITY, EASE of USE... Taipan makes sure that your instruments are in the best hands.

The data acquisition process

The typical laboratory contains many different types of instrumentation.

The ability to interface to a variety of different systems revolves around the fundamental question, How do I get my data from the instrument in to the data management system?

Fortunately Quartz Imaging has the answer. We have developed a number of different software and hardware interfaces that will connect almost any imaging instrument to our central data management system. Our Quartz PCI Data Acquisition modules are the way in which operators can acquire data at the target instruments and seamlessly transfer the data in to the central system. This maximizes efficiency, minimizes data entry errors and ensures that a wide variety of old and new instruments can be easily supported.

Taipan Connector software and hardware includes modules for PC based optical microscopes, Analog Electron microscopes, UNIX based imaging systems and digital electron imaging and analytical systems. Our connector modules:

Eliminate manual data transfer errors
Increase the sample throughput in your laboratory
Reduce the complexity and IT overhead and cost of implementation
Improve compliance with better traceability and structured methods of transferring data

Quartz PCI Data Acquisition modules ensure that data gets to the right place in a well managed way.

EFFICIENT, ERROR FREE DATA TRANSFER with MINIMAL IT INVESTMENT.

The collaboration process

Sharing your instrument

The Taipan system can easily link with our Quartz PCI Collaboration Microscopy module. Sharing your instrument with a wider audience is easy using our totally integrated, web-based solution. The Collaboration Microscopy module (option) consists of a stand-alone hardware-based video server that can be installed at a target instrument. PCI Collaboration Microscopy uses web technology to bring your lab and its clients together wherever they are located around the world. Imagine: Clients can interact with operators to ensure they are getting the images they actually need. Colleagues can work together to resolve engineering problems. Managers can help less experienced operators. Educators can teach students. Service personnel can diagnose problems.

Talon Remote Control Software

Our Talon remote control module allows you to control Hitachi PC-SEMs over the Internet, with complete replication of the instrument’s graphical user interface.

The unique feature of Talon is the ability to combine the transmission of the target instrument’s GUI with the high speed transmission of a video signal. Many instruments rely upon video rate, visual feedback, during operations such as focusing and astigmatism correction, and the response rate is critical to the correct operation of the imaging system. Talon minimizes bandwidth utilization by transmitting a high quality compressed video stream in combination with the complete GUI of the instrument. Only screen changes in the GUI are transmitted from the host computer to the client along with the streaming video signal.

SHARE IT WITH SECURITY & Taipan allows you to take your instruments to a global audience.

The desktop process

By storing data from the instrument on the central Taipan server, you can make it available for further review, measurement, annotation and adjustment in our Quartz PCI Desktop Client software. By moving these functions off the instrument and back to the office, you can free up instrument time.

The Quartz PCI Desktop Client includes a comprehensive set of tools for working with images. Image manipulation functions include contrast, brightness and gamma adjustment, color correction, histogram adjustments, zooming, smoothing, sharpening, median filtering, rotating and resizing. Annotation tools, which operate on a separate overlay layer, are provided to place text, lines, arrows and various geometric shapes on your images. Tools are also provided for measuring distances, angles and areas. Measurement data is presented in a spreadsheet grid and can be easily transferred to other applications, such as Microsoft® Excel.

SOPHISTICATED BUT EASY-TO-USE IMAGE ANNOTATION TOOLS & at your fingertips with the Quartz PCI Desktop Client and Taipan.

The report generation process

Once all the data has been generated and placed in a central management area, the user can then access the system to produce a final report. The creation of reports is often left to third party software that may not be suited to the production of customized laboratory documents.

The Quartz PCI Report Generator is the quickest and easiest way to present your data in an attractive report. Reports may be tailored to corporate specifications or customized to match a wide variety of styles. The secure, printable report may be easily distributed for peer review in a number of standard output formats including Microsoft® Word, PowerPoint and Adobe® PDF.

Data and images can be quickly inserted in to a template page with the drag and drop functionality of the Report Generator. Images may be moved, resized, enhanced and annotated and tables of data and graphs can be easily imported in to the document.

The Quartz PCI Report Generator makes it simple to gather data from multiple instruments to produce the final professional report in a few easy steps.

DRAG and DROP DATA, FORMAT and ANNOTATE, OUTPUT in standard formats & the Quartz PCI Report Generator makes it so simple.

The data retrieval process

Taipan includes a built-in web server that allows you, and your colleagues and clients, to search for and retrieve stored data. You specify the search parameters by filling in a simple web-based form. The system will then retrieve thumbnail images of the data that meets your search criteria. You can view or download images by clicking on the thumbnails. You can even select multiple thumbnails and request that they be downloaded in a single, convenient Zip file. In addition to displaying image data, the system also displays all of the information associated with the file such as job and sample parameters.

Of course, the data retrieval process is secure showing data only to those users who have been given permission to access it.