Analytical Instrument Status Display via Segmented Data Analysis
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current analytical instruments do not display status information for Multi-Angle Light Scattering (MALS), Differential Refractometer (DRI), or Viscometer (VIS) indicators, and they do not take actions based on instrument status, leading to issues like limited system equilibration time, instrument noise, drifting detector baselines, and flow cell obstructions.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method and system that receives data from analytical instruments, segments and analyzes it for characteristics, retrieves threshold values, calculates instrument status, and displays this information on the instrument's screen, including using machine learning algorithms to improve data quality and system health.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If analytical instruments operate without status monitoring and display, then device complexity is reduced, but reliability and data quality deteriorate due to undetected issues like noise, drift, and obstructions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where instrument status data is continuously collected, analyzed, and displayed back to users. The system monitors characteristics like noise, drift, and obstructions, then provides visual feedback through color-coded indicators (green for good, yellow for intermediate, red for bad status). This closed-loop feedback system improves reliability by enabling real-time status awareness without requiring complex manual monitoring procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
The instrument performs self-diagnosis and self-monitoring of its own status characteristics. The system automatically collects data from sensors and detectors, analyzes whether the instrument is in a good, intermediate, or bad state, and displays the status without requiring external intervention. This self-service approach maintains reliability while minimizing the complexity of external monitoring systems.
2Measurement precision
If comprehensive status monitoring and analysis is implemented, then data quality and system health improve, but device complexity and processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the complex status monitoring task into distinct, manageable characteristics: noise levels, drift detection, obstruction identification, and equilibration status. Each characteristic is monitored and evaluated separately using dedicated algorithms. This segmentation allows the system to achieve high measurement precision for each parameter while keeping the overall processing complexity manageable through modular analysis.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transforms complex instrument status information into simplified parameter representations with three discrete states: good, intermediate, and bad. By converting continuous physical measurements into categorical status parameters, the system maintains high measurement precision for detecting subtle changes while reducing processing complexity through standardized evaluation criteria and threshold-based decision making.
3Productivity
If real-time status calculation and display is implemented, then productivity and operational efficiency improve, but use of energy and computational resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements partial monitoring by focusing only on the most critical status characteristics (noise, drift, obstruction, equilibration) rather than comprehensively analyzing all possible instrument parameters. The system performs analysis at appropriate intervals and applies simplified algorithms that provide sufficient operational efficiency information without requiring excessive computational energy. This selective partial action maintains productivity while constraining energy consumption.
Data Source
Figure 1A
Figure 1B
Figure 2A
AI summary
The present disclosure describes a method, a system, and a computer program product of indicating a status of an analytical instrument on a screen of the analytical instrument. In an embodiment, the method, the system, and the computer program product include receiving data from an analytical instrument monitoring a liquid sample, segmenting the received data into data segments for at least two characteristics of at least one of the instrument, the sample, and an operating environment of the instrument, analyzing each of the data segments for the at least two characteristics, retrieving threshold values for the at least two characteristics from a computer data source, calculating at least one status of at least one of the instrument, the sample, and the operating environment, with respect to the analyzed data segments and the threshold values, and displaying the at least one status on a display of the instrument.