The History of the Data Systems AutoChemist® (ACH) and AutoChemist- PRISMA (PRISMA®): from 1964 to 1986.

OBJECTIVES: This paper presents the history of data system development steps (1964 - 1986) for the clinical analyzers AutoChemist®, and its successor AutoChemist PRISMA® (PRogrammable Individually Selective Modular Analyzer). The paper also partly recounts the history of development steps of the minicomputer PDP 8 from Digital Equipment. The first PDP 8 had 4 core memory boards of 1 K each and was large as a typical oven baking sheet and about 10 years later, PDP 8 was a "one chip microcomputer" with a 32 K memory chip. The fast developments of PDP 8 come to have a strong influence on the development of the data system for AutoChemist. Five major releases of the software were made during this period (1-5 MIACH). RESULTS: The most important aims were not only to calculate the results, but also be able to monitor their quality and automatically manage the orders, store the results in digital form for later statistical analysis and distribute the results to the physician in charge of the patient using thesame computer as the analyzer. Another result of the data system was the ability to customize AutoChemist to handle sample identification by using bar codes and the presentation of results to different types of laboratories. CONCLUSIONS: Digital Equipment launched the PDP 8 just as a new minicomputer was desperately needed. No other known alternatives were available at the time. This was to become a key success factor for AutoChemist. That the AutoChemist with such a high capacity required a computer for data collection was obvious already in the early 1960s. That computer development would be so rapid and that one would be able to accomplish so much with a data system was even suspicious at the time. In total, 75; AutoChemist (31) and PRISMA (44) were delivered Worldwide. The last PRISMA was delivered in 1987 to the Veteran Hospital Houston, TX USA.

Living without a data management system.

The implementation of a typical electronic data capture (EDC) system for clinical trials - encompassing data entry, validation and reporting tools - involves modeling electronic case report forms (eCRFs) for data that will be entered by investigative trial sites, providing web access for the sites to enter the data, managing a 'cleaning and locking' process (in which any queries against the data are resolved), and transmitting the final data to SAS datasets. Other clinical data not included in CRFs, such as laboratory data, are typically handled in a separate clinical data management system; this information is not directly linked back to the trial sites and therefore is inaccessible for review. Thus, activities such as seeking site feedback on out-of-range laboratory values can only be performed by manually transcribing queries from the data management system into the EDC system. As the number of studies using EDC systems escalates and the number of studies gathering data on paper diminishes, the inefficiencies of handling data across different systems are becoming increasingly apparent. This article explores the opportunities, risks and technical requirements needed for an integrated EDC environment to enable a discontinuation of the use of older data management systems.

Viruses and the development of quantitative biological electron microscopy.

The electron microscope has become an important tool for determining the structure of biological materials of all kinds. Many technical advances in specimen preparation and in sophisticated methods of image analysis, initially based on optical systems but latterly on computer processing, have contributed to the development of the subject. Viruses of various kinds have often provided a convenient and appropriate test specimen. This paper describes the major technical advances and shows how viruses have had an important role in most of the developments.

Roots and promises of chemical-based computing.

General principles of information processing by chemical-based biomolecular systems (pseudobiological information processing paradigm) are discussed. These principles include very large scale parallelism of information processing, high behavioral complexity, complementarity of information features, self-organization, and multilevel architecture. Chemical-based information processing devices using these principles seem to be able to solve effectively problems of high computational complexity.

Por un enfoque histórico de la informática / A historical approach to informatics

A medio siglo de la concepción de la computadora, sus efectos, que alcanzan ya a todos los dominios del quehacer humano, parecen apuntar a una transición universal similar a la que marcó en Occidente el paso de la producción artesanal a la producción industrial entre los siglos XVIII y XIX, que se podría caracterizar como el paso de la mecanización a la automatización universal. Se sostiene que, si esta suposición fuera correcta, sería imperioso intensificar el enfoque histórico de la informática que tiene ya diversas manifestaciones en varios países pero está todavía ausente en el nuestro. Se propone la incorporación gradual de la historia de la informática en las carreras universitarias a partir de centros de investigación y publicación de trabajos y la constitución de museos y archivos, para preservar los testimonios físicos y documentales de origen y la evolución inicial de esta invención científico-técnica que honra a nuestro siglo

Por un enfoque histórico de la informática / A historical approach to informatics

A medio siglo de la concepción de la computadora, sus efectos, que alcanzan ya a todos los dominios del quehacer humano, parecen apuntar a una transición universal similar a la que marcó en Occidente el paso de la producción artesanal a la producción industrial entre los siglos XVIII y XIX, que se podría caracterizar como el paso de la mecanización a la automatización universal. Se sostiene que, si esta suposición fuera correcta, sería imperioso intensificar el enfoque histórico de la informática que tiene ya diversas manifestaciones en varios países pero está todavía ausente en el nuestro. Se propone la incorporación gradual de la historia de la informática en las carreras universitarias a partir de centros de investigación y publicación de trabajos y la constitución de museos y archivos, para preservar los testimonios físicos y documentales de origen y la evolución inicial de esta invención científico-técnica que honra a nuestro siglo (AU)

Bar codes in the clinical laboratory.

A basic overview of bar code technology is presented with a focus on applications in the clinical laboratory. Bar codes operate based on symbology, a pattern of bars and white spaces that define alphanumeric characters. The codes are read by scanners, which may be stationary or handheld. Bar codes may be printed using any of several available methods. Bar codes are currently being implemented in several areas of health care, including materials management, clinical laboratory, pharmacy, medical records, and asset management. Planning for implementation of a bar code system is very much like computer installation, in terms of systems analysis and design, procedures, and training. Clinical laboratories should consider use of bar code systems, as they often are faster, better, and more cost-effective than available alternatives.

The history of computing.

This article follows the development of computerized devices from the primitive manual systems of the ancient world to the sophisticated electronic devices of today.

Proem to a quantum leap in audiometric data collection and management.

A revolution began in 1961 when Weiss first mated a minicomputer to an audiometer. Today's technology offers a number of aids to the audiometrist in standardizing stimulus presentation patterns, objectifying and validating responses, computing HTL from a response pattern, computing significant threshold shifts from baseline audiograms, computing percentage binaural hearing impairment for a person, etc. Audiometers can be made which self-calibrate and are fail-safe. Furthermore, a revolution has occurred in replacing an audiogram written record, for example a card, with a system in which the audiometer transfers HTL data directly into computer storage without the possibility of transcription error. A group of turnkey and interlocking terminals allows the audiometric data of any individual serviced to be retrieved and/or updated from any terminal in the system. This paper lists commercial models simulating standard manual audiometry, models computerizing Bekesy audiometry, and some experimental models on yet other principles. Psychometric methods and methods for response validation suitable for audiometry are discussed, and out of many possible suggestions a few are offered for audiometric paradigms which may go beyond simulation of ASHA guidelines and ANSI specifications for manual threshold audiometry in order to take advantage of the power available from the computer as a tool in audiometry. For example, a computer can scan the responses of as many as 32 subjects simultaneously, offer each an adaptive program based on his response, and printout HTL's in conventional audiometric format.

A review of the National Health Service's computing policy in the 1970s.

The health service computer policy is reviewed in this paper particularly the potential contribution of some systems to information gathering. The paper begins with a brief description of the computer applications thought suitable for the medical field in the late 1960s, and two views of the future that were published in 1968. Two reports on computing and information systems in Scotland are then described; the general philosophy and specific proposals on the use of population files are contrasted with the initial Department of Health and Social Services' (DHSS) experimental computer program. The subsequent changes in English policy are revealed in the reports of three reviews published by the DHSS. The present development of a master patient index in Tayside is noted and the potential applications in management and planning of information stemming from such systems are discussed. It is suggested that lack of work in this field is a major gap in the programme of activity in England.