Andi Protocols for analytical data interchange a program of the Analytical Instrument Association, now called the Analytical and Life Science Systems Association (ALSSA)

The Analytical Instrument Association ("AIA"), now called "the Analytical and Life Science Systems Association (ALSSA)" developed the analytical data interchange protocols ("Andi Protocols") to increase laboratory efficiency and productivity by facilitating the integration and use of data from multiple vendors' instruments. To date, AIA has released Andi Protocols for chromatographic data and for mass spectral data. As shown on the chart on the reserve side, the Andi Protocols have been incorporated into several vendors' products.

Andi Protocols' Purpose: The Andi Protocols are designed to benefit users of analytical instruments and increase laboratory productivity and efficiency. They achieve this by creating a standardized format for data representation and a software vehicle to effect the transfer of analytical data between instrument data systems.

Background of the Andi Protocols: In 1988 the AIA Board of Directors established a task group, led by David C. Nelson, to recommend a transfer vehicle and standardized file formats for data interchange. The software transfer vehicle adopted was NetCDF, developed by the Unidata Program, which is funded by the Division of Atmospheric Sciences of the National Science Foundation. For more information on the NetCDF standard, contact Unidata at www.unidata.ucar.edu.

The first Andi Protocol was released for chromatographic data in 1992, followed by an Andi Protocol for mass spectral data in 1994. Standardized analytical data interchange efforts continue with AIA members focused on testing and implementation of Andi Protocols in new revisions of software. This is an ongoing effort which includes adapting Andi Protocols for new data file types.

How the Andi Protocols Work: The Andi Protocols provide a standardized format for the creation of raw data files or results files. This standard format has the extension ".cdf" (derived from Net CDF), regardless of whether the files originate from chromatographic or mass spectral data. The contents of the file include typical header information like instrument, column, detector and operator description followed by raw and/or processed data. Once data have been written or converted to Andi Protocol, they can be read and processed by software packages that support the Andi Protocols (see the chart on the reverse side). Data integrity is preserved in the Andi Protocol format and is periodically tested in cross-vendor round robin analyses.

How the Andi Protocols Can Help You: To increase the efficiency of your laboratory, you may choose to: 1) transfer data between various vendors' instrument systems, 2) provide LIMS communications, 3) link data to document processing applications, 4) link data to spreadsheet applications, and/or 5) archive analytical data. The Andi Protocols are consistent, vendor independent data formats that facilitate the analytical data interchange for these activities.

For more information about the Andi Protocols: Contact your vendor or contact the AIA at 225 Reinekers Lane - Suite 625, Alexandria, VA 22314, voice: (703) 836-1360, : (703) 836-6644, e-mail: AInstA@aol.com.

Located in Alexandria, Virginia, The Analytical Instrument Association (AIA) is the trade association for manufacturers of high technology laboratory analytical products and systems used for chemical and biomolecular analysis. AIA's members include both the largest manufacturers and many medium size and smaller companies. Together, they account for over eighty percent of all analytical instruments manufactured in the United States and approximately sixty percent of the analytical instruments sold in worldwide markets.

Andi Protocols Products List: The following members of AIA have products that incorporate the Andi Protocols and are currently participating in testing as described below. Contact those companies for details about models, status of implementation of the Andi Protocols, and user access. In addition, other vendors may have products which contain the Andi Protocols. Contact your vendor if you have questions about a particular product supporting the Andi Protocols.

Andi/Chromatography

Andi/Mass Spectrometry

In a recent survey of Andi users, several respondents reported there are minor inconsistencies among the various vendors' implementations of the Andi Protocols. As a result, our Andi Protocols Task Group has initiated a round robin test cycle. In the test, each company reads and writes data from the other vendors and compares the results with the vendor's original report. The group's plans are to identify and fix any causes of round robin testing failures, and then to revise the Andi Protocols and incorporate those revisions into vendors' products.

Reference Articles: For more detailed information on the Andi Protocols, see the following articles: The Standard for Chromatography Data Communication from the Analytical Instrument Association, (American Laboratory, September 1992), The AIA Standard for Data Interchange, (LC*GC Magazine, September 1993), and The AIA Analytical Data Interchange (Andi) Program: Progress, Applications and Plans, (American Laboratory, February 1996).