The Application of Formal Methods for the Redevelopment of a Laboratory Information Management System

Abstract

The overall goal of a clinical laboratory is to analyse samples of blood and other bodily fluids received from a patient, and to return the correct results to the patient’s doctor within a suitable period. Automated analysers are used in most laboratories to analyse the various samples. Computer systems (LIMS¹) are widely used in laboratories to control, support and monitor the work done in the laboratory, keeping pace with the increased analytical capability provided by these analysers. In particular, a LIMS is typically used to control and monitor (at least):

• the working of the analysers, deciding what tests need to be done for each sample by each analyser,

• the collating of requests and results, and

• the printing of the results.