Instrument Intelligence Fundamentals
For chromatography and mass spectrometry
Self diagnostic tools for analytical instruments
Self-diagnostic instrument capabilities enable real-time insight about instrument health and provide predictive maintenance options that prevent common problems so your lab keeps running.
Instant system insights from your LC
For the Infinity III HPLC series, a tablet-style user interface for each LC provides a real-time dashboard giving users instant system insights and trends. Instrument status can be monitored from anywhere, anytime. Assisted workflows provide users with step-by-step instructions for troubleshooting and routine maintenance tasks.
Meet Agilent’s digital HPLC assistant.
Intelligent features in your GC
GC Intelligence, found in many GC systems, offers intelligent features, avoiding common GC problems before they affect chromatographic performance and results. Self-guided diagnostic and maintenance procedures offer step-by-step instructions to identify, troubleshoot, and prevent common issues. The browser interface provides remote connectivity through the lab network and access to instrument features and status without the need for a data system.
Learn more about GC intelligence
Smart monitoring on your mass spectrometer
Smart monitoring based on telemetry facilitates predictive analytics, where devices use historical data to forecast future trends or events. This capability is particularly valuable in applications such as predictive maintenance, like early maintenance feedback (EMF), where devices can anticipate equipment failures and schedule repairs proactively, reducing downtime and costs.
Intelligent self-tests allow rapid and cost-effective identification of issues for minimized instrument downtime. To reduce downtime, users can initiate instrument self-diagnostic tests and checks and provide a report to service personnel.
Early maintenance feedback
Early maintenance feedback actively monitors instrument metrics and reports the results to you. Each component has its own built-in monitor, so you can quickly and easily review status and know the health of your instrument to anticipate downtime or address an immediate issue.
EMF is displayed as a traffic light color-coded dashboard to provide insight at a glance and is present on all Agilent LC/MS instruments, GC/MS instruments, and LC and GC systems. EMF warnings do not stop the instrument from running, but rather alert the operator as to when maintenance should be performed based on the predicted lifetime of each monitored attribute.
Traditionally, laboratories use calendar-based maintenance schedules, which do not factor in the actual use of the instrument. EMF tracks simple metrics based on actual instrument use, such as liters pumped or valve switches, which is a better indicator of when maintenance is due. This feature allows users to get a reminder that maintenance is due on their instrument before it causes chromatography or hardware issues.
There are ten user-actionable EMF counters and check marks, including autotune, check tune, injection count, diverter valve switches, rough pump, gas filter, detector health, nebulizer status, capillary status, and spray stability status.
EMF in your data acquisition software
Instrument status and EMF notifications are displayed in data acquisition software for each module in the instrument status window. EMF information is located directly under the instrument status bar for each module
Learn more about EMF
Intelligent telemetry (or self-diagnostics)
Available on 6495D LC/TQ, and selected LC/Q-TOF (Revident Q-TOF, 6545XT, and 6546 with MassHunter 12.1 and higher). The diagnostic tune will perform a comprehensive system analysis that can provide remote field service engineers with a log that can be used for diagnosis.