Track sample consumption
Tracking the usage of samples or reagents
Sample consumption is a record of sample or reagent usage in a biotech laboratory. To meet the requirement of GLP (Good Laboratory Practice) and FDA 21 FR Part 11, the sample consumption shall always be captured and recorded when performing a scientific experiment. On one hand, the record can guide other scientists to follow and reproduce the result. On the other hand, these records are critical to finding the problems if anything goes wrong.
Sample consumption tracking is challenging in ELN (Electronic Lab Notebook) and LIMS (Laboratory Information Management System). It requires the functionalities of both ELN and LIMS. All samples and reagent are stored in the LIMS, however, the act of consumption happens during the experimentation process. As such, this functionality is not available for almost all ELN or LIMS product in the market.
Labii ELN & LIMS has stepped in to combine the data management for both ELN and LIMS in one online repository. With the flexibility of data storage and extensibility of functionalities in Labii ELN & LIMS, the tracking of sample consumption is now possible and easy to document.
This documentation covers the necessary steps to configure your Labii ELN & LIMS account to store the sample consumption details.
Before started, there is a few configuration required from your administrators.
The following 3 tables need to be created (Please check here for how to create tables):
- Experiments. A table to keep a list of experiment notes.
- Samples. A table to keep a list of samples.
- Consumptions. A table to keep tracking of consumption details.
3 Tables for consumption tracking
Additional tables like Reagents can be created to track the consumption of the reagents.
No specific fields required for the Experiments and Samples tables. While for the Consumption table, these fields need to be added:
- experiment, the experiment id
- sample, the sample id
- amount, how much is used
- unit, the unit of consumption
Please follow the picture below to choose the widget and default value
Columns for the Consumption Table
Do not set default value for sample column if you want to tracking the consumption for other tables as well.
Separate the Unique Code with "," for the default value if you want to tracking the consumption for multiple tables. For example, use "SP,RG" to tracking both samples and reagents.
Now, the columns in the Consumption table creates all necessary links between experiments and samples. The details of consumption can be displayed in an experiment or a sample with Backlink widget.
Add a section named "Sample Consumption" with widget Backlink. This widget allows you to display the consumption of each sample, add and edit the consumption details. Click the edit icon to configure the backlink:
Field | Value |
Table | consumption |
Column | experiment |
Fields | sample, amount, unit |
If you want to look back on how many experiments is using the sample, add a section named "Consumption" with widget Backlink. Click the edit icon to configure the backlink:
Field | Value |
Table | consumption |
Column | sample |
Fields | experiment, amount, unit |
With the above configuration, the consumption can be view at two different levels. The experiment level to see how much samples is used for one particular experiment, and the sample level to track how many experiments is using this sample.
The list of samples and how much was used can be displayed at the experiment level, to do that:
- 2.
- 3.Click the "New Consumption" button to add a new consumption
- 4.Continually add more consumptions till all samples are covered
- 5.Mouse over to a consumption to update the details of the consumption
Display the consumption at the experiment level
The list of experiments that used a sample can be displayed at the sample level, to do that:
- 1.
- 2.
- 3.Click the "New Consumption" button to add a new consumption (optional)
- 4.Mouse over to a consumption to update the details of the consumption
Display the consumption at the sample level
Last modified 4yr ago