JP2012237564A - Analytical instrument control/management system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the efficiency of analytical operation and to reduce user's loads by eliminating the necessity of execution of setting for user management, security policy management, etc. in each of a plurality of control software units for respectively controlling various analytical instruments.SOLUTION: A common information management platform 3 for collectively managing user information, security policy information, etc. which are individually managed by respective control software units in a conventional system is prepared and system management information is collectively managed by a database 32 included in the platform 3. Registration of new information and deletion, change or the like of existing information are performed through a registration/change control unit 311, each control software outputs a request to the information management platform 3 when system management information for analysis execution or the like is required and each of management function units 312 to 320 reads out or retrieve necessary information from the database 32 in accordance with the request and transmits the read out or retrieved information to the control software to be a request source.

Description

  The present invention relates to an analytical instrument control / management system for controlling and managing various analytical instruments such as a liquid chromatograph, a gas chromatograph, a mass spectrometer, and a spectrophotometer.

  In recent years, personal computers (hereinafter abbreviated as personal computers) have been widely used to control various analytical instruments such as liquid chromatographs, perform data processing, and manage data. In other words, dedicated control software is installed in a personal computer as one of the application software. By operating the control software on the personal computer, control of analytical instruments, data collection / management, data processing, etc. It is supposed to be executed. As an example of such control software, Non-Patent Document 1 discloses application software named “LCsolution” for controlling a liquid chromatograph.

  Recently, not only the connection between a single analytical instrument and a personal computer, but also a network-connected management system in which a plurality of identical or different analytical instruments and one or more personal computers are connected via a data communication network such as a LAN. The form is becoming common. In such a system, for example, it is easy to collectively manage data collected by a plurality of analysis devices by a server, or to create an analysis result report by integrating data collected by a plurality of analysis devices.

  In the conventional control / management system as described above, when individual control software is installed in each personal computer, the system management information required to control / manage the analytical instruments that each software is responsible for is Everything is independently maintained and managed by the software. Here, the system management information necessary for control / management is, for example, user information, security policy information, device information, display setting information, project information, log information, file management information, and the like. Therefore, the user needs to input and set such information for each control software, that is, for each personal computer. Similarly, when it is desired to change the registered information, it is necessary to perform the change operation for each control software.

  For example, if you want to change the registered user authority for all control software, you will need to enter the key to change the registered user authority for each computer on which the control software is installed. become. Such an input operation takes a lot of time, is inefficient, and easily causes mistakes. In addition, since the control software differs depending on the analytical instrument, the operation method for setting and changing information in the control software is usually different. In such a case, the operator needs to learn the operation method in each control software, or to check it if it is not remembered, and the work becomes more troublesome and complicated. Of course, such a problem becomes more conspicuous as the number of analytical instruments becomes larger and the types of analytical instruments become more diverse.

"LabSolutions Series Workstation LCsolution", [online], Shimadzu Corporation, [Search April 12, 2011], Internet <URL: http://www.an.shimadzu.co.jp/products/data- net / lcsol1.htm>

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and the purpose of the present invention is to greatly reduce the labor required for input setting and changing of system management information necessary for controlling and managing analytical instruments. It is an object of the present invention to provide an analytical instrument control / management system that can alleviate the inconvenience of learning operation methods for inputting and changing system management information in a plurality of control software.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides an analytical instrument control / management for controlling / managing a plurality of same or different kinds of analytical instruments by a computer system comprising a plurality of computers interconnected by a communication network. A system,
a) a plurality of control / management units each embodied by operating on a computer dedicated control software for individually controlling and managing one or more analytical instruments;
b) an information management platform that is commonly used to control and manage the analytical instruments each of which is in charge of each of the plurality of control / management units;
The information management platform comprises:
b1) a database unit that holds system management information necessary for the control and management units to control and manage each analytical instrument;
b2) An information management unit that executes at least registration of new information and modification, correction, and deletion of existing information with respect to the database unit;
b3) When the control / management unit executes control / management of the analytical instrument, it receives a request from the control / management unit, extracts system management information corresponding to the request from the database unit, and An information providing unit to be sent to the control / management unit;
It is characterized by including.

  “Platform” generally refers to hardware and OS itself, but here, system management information that is indispensable when operating control software for analytical instruments, which is one of application software, is stored and A function to be managed is achieved by executing a predetermined program.

In the analytical instrument control / management system according to the present invention, the system management information can include, for example, the following information.
(1) User information including the name (user name) of a user who uses the analytical instrument, a login password, user authority, and the like.
(2) Security policy information that defines a password expiration date, the number of characters, or a security level such as lockout against unauthorized access.
(3) Device information that defines the name and specifications of the analytical instrument used. Generally, the name of an analytical instrument is a name that the user himself / herself needs for management, and is often determined when the instrument is delivered.
(4) Display setting information for displaying analysis results and the like on the display unit. This display setting information includes the item name of the analysis result, etc., which can be common for each type of analysis instrument used to obtain the analysis result. For example, if the analytical instrument is a liquid chromatograph, the data parameter item name of the PDA detector can be displayed, and if the analytical instrument is a gas chromatograph, the item name such as a line can be displayed.
(5) Project information for defining analysis conditions and analysis procedures. For example, this is information for setting whether or not the device name set as the device information can be used in a project.
(6) Log information for managing a history of operations such as login and error occurrence. In general, the history storage period and the like can be arbitrarily determined by the user through operation.
(7) File management information for determining the format and storage method of method files and data files. In general, the storage format (file extension) of a data file as an analysis result differs depending on software for managing (controlling) the analytical instrument.
(8) Printer management information for printing analysis results. With this information, the output destination of the analysis result can be changed for each type of analytical instrument. For example, it is possible to change the output printer depending on whether the analytical instrument is a liquid chromatograph or a gas chromatograph.
(9) Tamper check execution of each program and the result management information. Specifically, for example, a checksum of a program is generated when an installer is created, and a check table is created. By referring to the table after installation and verifying the checksum generation result, it is detected whether or not the program has been tampered with. For example, the check may be executed at the time of software installation and inspection.

  The information management platform may be created by the function of the software when the control software that embodies the control / management unit is installed in the computer. In addition, when another control software is installed in one of the computers of the system that already has an information management platform, the software does not create a new information management platform, The system can have only one information management platform.

  In the analytical instrument control / management system according to the present invention, basically, each control / management unit does not have the system management information as described above, and performs data analysis or data processing using existing analysis results. When such system management information becomes necessary, for example, to execute the process, the system management information is sequentially requested from the information management platform. In the information management platform, the information providing unit receives this request, extracts the requested system management information from the database unit, and sends it to the requesting control / management unit. Thereby, each control / management part can perform the operation | movement which concerns on an analysis and data processing similarly to the case where the said system management information is hold | maintained individually.

  Note that the information management platform may exist in any of a plurality of computers constituting the system. For example, it may be in a computer where a certain control / management unit exists, or may be in a server different from the computer where the control / management unit exists. Further, the function of the information management platform may be divided into a plurality of computers, such as providing only the database unit on the server.

  According to the analytical instrument control / management system of the present invention, information necessary for system management such as user information and security policy information that are commonly used is unified, regardless of the number and type of individual analytical instrument control software. Managed. This eliminates the need to perform operations such as new registration, change, and deletion of system management information for each control software, thus simplifying operations associated with system management, saving labor, and causing problems due to input errors. Can be reduced. In addition, it is not necessary to memorize the procedure for inputting or changing the above-mentioned information that is different for each control software, thereby reducing the burden on the operator. Furthermore, individual control software does not require the function to hold and manage the above system management information, reducing the burden on designers and programmers when developing new control software. .

Schematic which shows an example of a structure of the analysis system comprised using the analytical instrument control and management system concerning this invention. Schematic which shows the other example of a structure of the analysis system comprised using the analytical instrument control and management system concerning this invention. Schematic which shows the other example of a structure of the analysis system comprised using the analytical instrument control and management system concerning this invention. The functional block block diagram centering on an information management platform in the analytical instrument control and management system which concerns on this invention. The figure which shows an example of the user management screen displayed on a display part, when registering, changing, deleting, etc. of user information in the analytical instrument control / management system which concerns on this invention.

  Embodiments of an analytical instrument control / management system according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  1 to 3 are configuration examples of an analysis system using an analytical instrument control / management system according to the present invention. These systems include two liquid chromatographs LC1 and LC2, one liquid chromatograph mass spectrometer MS1, and one spectrophotometer SP1 as analytical instruments, but this is an example, and any number The system can include any type of analytical instrument.

  1 to 3, each of the control terminal devices 2A, 2B, and 2C is a personal computer in which control software corresponding to the type of analytical instrument that is connected (that is, the control target) is installed. The analytical instrument control / management units 21 to 23 are realized by executing the control software on a personal computer. That is, each of the analytical instrument control / management units 21 to 23 is a functional block embodied by execution of the control software. The control terminal devices 2A, 2B, and 2C are connected to a communication network 1 such as a LAN. Analytical instrument control / management unit 21 includes two liquid chromatographs LC1 and LC2, analytical instrument control / management unit 22 includes liquid chromatograph mass spectrometer MS1, and analytical instrument control / management unit 23 includes spectrophotometer SP1. They are responsible for control, data processing, data management, etc., respectively.

  As a specific example, the analytical instrument control / management unit 21 is based on, for example, “LCsolution” manufactured by Shimadzu Corporation (see Non-Patent Document 1), and the analytical instrument control / management unit 22 is configured, for example, “LCMSsolution” manufactured by Shimadzu Corporation. The analytical instrument control / management unit 23 is based on, for example, “UVProbe” manufactured by Shimadzu Corporation.

  In the configuration example shown in FIG. 1, a common information management platform 3 is mounted on one control terminal device 2A connected to the liquid chromatographs LC1 and LC2. The information management platform 3 is a type that is embodied when a specific program installed in a computer executes an operation using hardware resources such as a CUP or a memory, like the analytical instrument control / management units 21 to 23. Is a functional block. The information management platform 3 may be mounted on another control terminal device 2B or 2C.

  In the configuration example shown in FIG. 2, in addition to the control terminal devices 2A, 2B, and 2C, a server 4 that is a computer is connected to the communication network 1, and an information management platform 3 common to the server 4 is provided. It is installed. Therefore, unlike the configuration example of FIG. 1, the control terminal apparatus 2A has no information management platform.

  In the configuration example shown in FIG. 3, the server 4 is connected to the communication network 1 as in the configuration example of FIG. 2, and the server 4 includes a database (DB) 32 that is a component of the information management platform 3. Only the other functions of the information management platform 3 are mounted on the control terminal device 2A. That is, the functions of the information management platform 3 are distributed between the control terminal device 2A and the server 4.

  As described above, if the computers (including the server) connected to each other in the communication network 1 are considered as one computer system, the information management platform 3 only needs to exist in this computer system, and is in any computer. It does n’t matter.

  As described above, the information management platform 3 is embodied by executing a predetermined program, which may be installed in a computer separately from the control software, but is provided along with the control software. When the control software is installed in a certain computer, the basic function of the information management platform 3 may be created. In this case, since it is not permitted that a plurality of information management platforms exist in one system, when new control software is installed in a computer in a system in which the information management platform already exists, the information management platform Recognize that already exists, do not create a new information management platform.

  FIG. 4 is a functional block configuration diagram centering on the information management platform 3 in the analysis system of the present embodiment.

  The information platform 3 receives requests from a plurality of analytical instrument control / management units 21, 22, 23,... And transmits the requested information, and executes new data registration in the database 32. A registration / change control unit 311 for changing or deleting data already held, a user management function unit 312, a security policy management function unit 313, a project management function unit 314, and a device management function unit 315, a display setting management function unit 316, a file management function unit 317, a log management function unit 318, a printer management function 319, a falsification check management function unit 320, a database management unit 321 and a database 32. Including. The database 32 stores system management information such as user information, security policy information, device information, display setting information, project information, log information, file management information, printer management information, and program falsification check management information described above. Has a region.

  The registration / change control unit 311 newly registers the above-described system management information or updates the existing system management information by an operation / instruction from the control terminal apparatuses 2A to 2C or the keyboard or the like which is the user interface of the server 4. It has a function to rewrite and delete. FIG. 5 shows an example of a user management screen displayed on the display unit when registering, changing, or deleting user information which is one of the system management information. Users who are allowed to manage users (in this example, the user name “Admin”) use this user management screen to register new users, delete existing users, set authority groups, and grant authority to each user. Various settings for management are possible. Similarly, other system management information can be registered, changed, and deleted only by those who have been granted system management authority.

  For example, when an operator performs an analysis using an analytical instrument, it is necessary to set analysis conditions by the analytical instrument control / management unit 22 connected to the analytical instrument. In that case, it is necessary to log in using a user ID, a user name, a password, or the like given in advance. For example, when a login operation is performed from the control terminal device 2A, the analytical instrument control / management unit 21 transmits the input data to the information providing platform 3 and requests a user inquiry. Then, the user management function unit 312 that has received the request via the transmission / reception control unit 310 instructs the DB management unit 319 to search for information corresponding to the data. In response to this, the DB management unit 319 reads, for example, information corresponding to the user ID and the user name, for example, information such as a password, an authority group to which the user belongs, and the granted authority content, from the database 32 and provides the information to the user management function unit 312.

  For example, if the user ID does not exist or the passwords do not match, the user management function unit 312 notifies the analytical instrument control / management unit 21 that the access is unauthorized. In response to this, the analytical instrument control / management unit 21 displays a message indicating that login is not possible, for example, on the screen of the display unit. On the other hand, in the case of a valid login, the user management function unit 312 sends user information such as the above-mentioned authority to the analytical instrument control / management unit 21. As a result, the analytical instrument control / management unit 21 permits login, and logs off the management of authority for the user, such as activating (operating) only the operation buttons within the scope of the granted authority. Run until.

  The system management other than user management is the same, and when each analytical instrument control / management unit 21 to 23 makes an information transmission request or system management inquiry to the information providing platform 3 as necessary, In accordance with the contents of the request or inquiry, each management function unit 312 to 320 reads corresponding information from the database 32 through the DB management unit 321 or executes a search, and controls the information and response corresponding to the request or inquiry to the analytical instrument. -It transmits to the management parts 21-23. Each analysis instrument control / management unit 21 to 23 executes control for analysis, processing and management of collected data, creation of a report of analysis results, print output, and the like accordingly.

  Therefore, the operation itself of each analytical instrument control / management unit 21 to 23 is equivalent to the case where each control software has system management information as in the conventional case. On the other hand, registration, change, and deletion of system management information need not be performed for each control software and can be performed in a lump, so that the time and effort can be greatly reduced as compared with the prior art. In addition, since each control software does not need to have a function equivalent to an information providing platform, it is possible to reduce a burden on a designer or a programmer when newly developing the control software.

  It should be noted that the above embodiment is an example of the present invention, and it is obvious that changes, modifications, and additions are appropriately included within the scope of the claims of the present application within the scope of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Communication network 2A-2C ... Control terminal device 21-23 ... Analytical instrument control / management part 3 ... Information management platform 310 ... Transmission / reception control part 311 ... Registration / change control part 312 ... User management function part 313 ... Security policy management function Unit 314 ... Project management function unit 315 ... Device management function unit 316 ... Display setting management function unit 317 ... File management function unit 318 ... Log management function unit 319 ... Printer management function unit 320 ... Tamper check management function unit 321 ... Database management unit 32 ... Database LC1, LC2 ... Liquid chromatograph MS1 ... Liquid chromatograph mass spectrometer SP1 ... Spectrophotometer

Claims (10)

An analytical instrument control / management system that controls and manages a plurality of analytical instruments of the same type or different types by a computer system comprising a plurality of computers connected to each other via a communication network
a) a plurality of control / management units each embodied by operating on a computer dedicated control software for individually controlling and managing one or more analytical instruments;
b) an information management platform that is commonly used to control and manage the analytical instruments each of which is in charge of each of the plurality of control / management units;
The information management platform comprises:
b1) a database unit that holds system management information necessary for the control and management units to control and manage each analytical instrument;
b2) An information management unit that executes at least registration of new information and modification, correction, and deletion of existing information with respect to the database unit;
b3) When the control / management unit executes control / management of the analytical instrument, it receives a request from the control / management unit, extracts system management information corresponding to the request from the database unit, and An information providing unit to be sent to the control / management unit;
Analytical instrument control and management system characterized by including The analytical instrument control / management system according to claim 1,
2. The analytical instrument control / management system according to claim 1, wherein the system management information is user information relating to a user who uses the analytical instrument. The analytical instrument control / management system according to claim 1,
An analytical instrument control / management system, wherein the system management information is security policy information. The analytical instrument control / management system according to claim 1,
2. The analytical instrument control / management system according to claim 1, wherein the system management information is apparatus information about an analytical instrument to be used. The analytical instrument control / management system according to claim 1,
The analytical instrument control / management system, wherein the system management information is display setting information for display on a display unit. The analytical instrument control / management system according to claim 1,
An analytical instrument control / management system, wherein the system management information is project information for performing an analysis. The analytical instrument control / management system according to claim 1,
An analytical instrument control / management system, wherein the system management information is log information. The analytical instrument control / management system according to claim 1,
An analytical instrument control / management system, wherein the system management information is file management information. The analytical instrument control / management system according to claim 1,
An analytical instrument control / management system, wherein the system management information is printer management information. The analytical instrument control / management system according to claim 1,
The analytical instrument control / management system, wherein the system management information is program alteration check management information for managing a program alteration check.

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