Real-time control system for biological experiments

生物实验实时控制系统

• 批准号: 6818875
• 负责人: DAVID J. CHRISTINI
• 金额: $ 43.87万
• 依托单位: WEILL MEDICAL COLL OF CORNELL UNIV
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2004-07-07 至 2008-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/6818875
• 关键词: bioengineering /biomedical engineering; computational biology; computer graphics /printing; computer human interaction; computer network; computer program /software; computer system design /evaluation; computer system hardware; information display; time resolved data

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Traditionally, the ability of experimentalists to perturb a system has been limited to rigid pre-programmed patterns or flexible operator-controlled protocols constrained by human reflexes. In contrast, "real-time control" allows the researcher to utilize dynamic manipulations according to automated analysis of instantaneous system measurements, thereby enabling entirely new biological experimentation paradigms in fields ranging from molecular biophysics to neuroscience. Unfortunately, real-time control is not possible with standard computer operating systems, and commercial real-time systems are costly and often tailored for industrial non-biological applications. The work proposed here is aimed at bypassing these problems by developing a freely available, powerful, and flexible open-source system for real-time control of biological experiments. The specific aims of this project are: 1. To unify three complementary real-time control systems. The investigator and co-investigators have been independently developing real-time control systems. Each system has particular strengths that complement the weaknesses of the others. We will merge these systems to form a powerful unified system with greatly expanded functionality. 2. To extend functionality to non- Linux platforms. Because our goal is to enable real-time biological experimentation, rather than to convert users to Linux, we will develop methods by which Windows and Apple users can run our system without having to abandon their preferred platforms. 3. To develop performance-monitoring metrics and tools. To aid experimentalists in designing an experiment application, tools for monitoring system performance will be developed and performance metrics will be established. 4. To create an extensive real-time experiment application library. We will develop a library of both general-purpose and application-specific experiment-control "plugins". Users will be able to choose from these options and/or customize them to meet their particular experiment demands. 5. To develop a visual-design tool for plugin development. We will develop a visual-design tool with which users will be able to develop plugins without manually editing source code. By eliminating the need for programming, this tool will greatly increase the number of users who will be able to develop experiment-control applications. 6. To optimize ease of use. To minimize the barrier of entry for beginners and maximize the productivity of experienced users, we will emphasize user-friendliness and develop comprehensive documentation.

描述（由申请人提供）：传统上，实验者扰动系统的能力仅限于严格的预编程模式或受人反射约束的灵活操作器控制方案。相比之下，“实时控制”使研究人员可以根据对瞬时系统测量的自动分析来利用动态操作，从而在从分子生物物理学到神经科学的领域中实现了全新的生物学实验范式。不幸的是，标准的计算机操作系统无法实时控制，并且商业实时系统的成本高昂，并且经常针对工业非生物应用量身定制。此处提出的工作旨在通过开发可自由使用，功能强大且灵活的开源系统来绕过这些问题，以实时控制生物学实验。该项目的具体目的是：1。统一三个互补的实时控制系统。研究人员和共同研究人员一直在独立开发实时控制系统。每个系统都有特殊的优势，可以补充其他系统的弱点。我们将合并这些系统，形成具有大大扩展功能的强大统一系统。 2。将功能扩展到非Linux平台。因为我们的目标是启用实时生物学实验，而不是将用户转换为Linux，因此我们将开发Windows和Apple用户可以运行我们的系统而不必放弃其首选平台的方法。 3。开发性能监控指标和工具。为了帮助实验者设计实验应用，将开发监视系统性能的工具，并建立性能指标。 4。创建一个广泛的实时实验应用程序库。我们将开发一个通用和特定于应用程序的实验控制“插件”的库。用户将可以从这些选项中进行选择和/或自定义以满足其特定的实验需求。 5。为开发插件开发的视觉设计工具。我们将开发一个视觉设计工具，用户将能够在无需手动编辑源代码的情况下开发插件。通过消除编程的需求，该工具将大大增加能够开发实验控制应用程序的用户数量。 6。优化易用性。为了最大程度地减少初学者的入境障碍，并最大程度地提高了经验丰富的用户的生产率，我们将强调用户友好性并制定全面的文档。