20 Jan Leveraging Key#™ To Speed Up Your Assay Development
To follow up on our original article on Key Sharp (Key#™), we want to examine how Key#™ can be used by your assay team to speed up the chemistry development for an IVD platform.
Key#™ is a PC-based software framework Key Tech has developed for the rapid prototyping of custom device communication. It’s a communication protocol, a user interface, script-based instrument control, data collection, and common data visualization, all rolled into one software application. Key#™ offers a set of power tools out of the box specifically designed to address the needs of assay development, while offering a high degree of flexibility to customize to your specific application and workflow. The combination of existing features and flexibility is well matched for IVD platform development.
Key#™’s intuitive user interface provides the ability to quickly create and test scripts for precise analysis of each assay step or instrument subsystem. Its reporting engine makes it easy to capture large amounts of data and organize it into tables, charts, and graphs so that you can quickly characterize the instrument performance to inform the next design iteration. Many of these features already exist in the software and allow your assay team to hit the ground running.
For example, an assay team that is building an IVD instrument will use Key#™ to have fine control over calibration, fluidic movement, heating profiles, and optical subsystems. Inputs and sensor outputs on the device can be graphically visualized and monitored, providing real-time feedback on device performance. Based on this feedback, teams can easily make on-the-fly adjustments to scripts. After completing a run, the captured run data can be exported for further detailed analysis.
Flexible Customization
At Key Tech, each product we work on is unique and requires customized controls or configurations at some level. Even though Key#™ packs many commonly used features already, there are still often situations where customization is needed to quickly adapt to the unique project needs during development. The ability to rapidly adapt to the project needs is our secret to speed up assay development for IVD platforms. Key Tech works closely with our clients’ assay development teams to understand the user needs based on the specific application and to deliver custom features in continuous incremental releases throughout the development cycle.
Examples of Key#™’s Features
-Deliver a customized set of high-level controls by building an intuitive User Interface (UI) on top of Key#™’s back-end processing and communication modules. Select which of Key#™’s underlying core modules your project needs, and seamlessly integrate them with a sleek UI tailored for the specific workflow of your application. The ability to rapidly customize an intuitive user interface maximizes efficiency by leveraging protocols that are already established by our clients. For example, dedicated screens can be quickly developed to expose all relevant control parameters for your in-house protocol, or a set of screens walking users through complex workflows step by step. If there are no existing protocols, the ability to customize the test software allows assay development teams to keep the focus on what is most important – de-risking the assay, and not software.
-Communicate with multiple devices simultaneously. For example, if your application calls for parallel control of an imaging system and a PCR system, Key#™ can be configured to communicate with an Off-The-Shelf (OTS) camera and a custom PCR subsystem. Whether these devices are similar or have different communication requirements, Key#™ can be adapted quickly to fit them all. We have experience interfacing with devices over RESTful API, TCP/IP socket, USB, serial, or other proprietary means.
-Service the instruments from Key#™’s GUI once the instruments are installed in our client’s laboratories. In the new post-pandemic world, the ability to remotely configure/maintain instruments will be essential. Key#™ enables assay developers to update firmware, install security patches, and manage various instrument configurations assay without needing to touch the hardware at all. Monitor errors remotely by turning on Key#™’s bug reporting capabilities to automatically push critical information to the cloud. This allows us to support our clients anywhere in the world.
-Complex instruments may require complex setup or calibration. Some of the setup and calibration needs are unique during development, where the assay development teams may desire more configurability of the instrument for the purpose of experimenting with chemistry design. Key#™ offers the ability to customize device setup and calibration by walking users through device processes to reduce human error.
-Extend Key#™’s powerful toolset with a plugin package to further customize to your assay. Organize and display instrument and cartridge data in real-time or add a graphic interface to control device components into Key#™’s UI. Trace fluid flow within a cartridge, or periodically query a web-based server for status updates. The ability to pick and choose critical instrument health parameters on the graphic dashboard allows the scientists to monitor assay performance at any time. Adding graphic interface for complex component control is just another way to address usability issues during development, reducing user errors and improving script readability. Our industrial designers and software architects work closely with the assay team to pioneer a customized software solution looks and feels exactly how you want, down to the very theme and style of the controls.
Enhance Your Development Process with Key#™
Key#™ is a ready-to-go solution with a powerful set of built-in tools designed for testing and analyzing data. During development, Key Tech and your assay team will work together to draft a list of custom commands to control the instrument with the aim to provide maximum flexibility for your assay team. Key Tech will stay closely engaged with your assay team so that we can optimize the software’s features to run comprehensive diagnostic tests and visualize data results. Once the assay scripts are finalized and verified, they can be easily packaged into a bundle as part of the Assay Definition Package for production.
Reach out at TalkToUs@keytechinc.com to see if Key#™ is the right fit for accelerating your product solution by consulting with one of our product engineers today.
On one hand, she is fascinated by the logical concrete rules that govern mathematics; on the other, she enjoys being able to express herself through innovative creativity.
Although outwardly dichotomous, JoAnna has found a way to unify her love of precision and
abstraction in the architecture and design of software.
Now and again, she can be caught tracking down the best food spots in Baltimore, dancing to hip-hop choreos, or lying low in her apartment playing video games.
Not to mention that she discovered a newfound interest in the exciting, albeit expensive, world of PC building.
And it’s only a matter of time before she owns her own personal battle station complete with 16kresolution, 1024 fps, unlimited ram, overclocking, liquid cooling, pristine cable management, and of course programmable LEDs…(what a nerd).
- Leveraging Key#™ To Speed Up Your Assay Development - January 20, 2021