Method for operating a laboratory system

1. A computer implemented method for operating a laboratory system comprising a plurality of laboratory instruments for processing biological samples and a laboratory information system, wherein each laboratory instrument has processing capabilities configured to execute specific processing steps on the biological samples, the method comprising:

grouping one or more of the plurality of laboratory instruments into one or more instrument cluster(s) and providing a cluster manager for each instrument cluster(s);

within each instrument cluster, publishing the respective instrument resource description of each laboratory instrument(s) for the cluster manager, wherein the instrument resource description comprises a list of hardware and/or software resources of the laboratory instrument;

maintaining an inventory of cluster resources of the instrument cluster by each cluster manager, wherein the inventory of cluster resources comprises a consolidated collection based on the instrument resource descriptions of each of the laboratory instruments of the respective instrument cluster;

publishing a list of processing capabilities of the respective instrument cluster to the laboratory information system by each cluster manager, wherein the list of processing capabilities is indicative of processing steps that the respective instrument cluster is able to carry out based on the inventory of cluster resources, and wherein, for at least one instrument cluster, the list of processing capabilities comprises processing capabilities of a multi-instrument assay workflow, wherein the multi-instrument assay workflow provides specific processing steps to be collaboratively processed by different types of laboratory instruments in the plurality of laboratory instruments;

receiving a biological sample by the laboratory system;

receiving a test order corresponding to the biological sample by the laboratory information system, wherein the test order is indicative of processing step(s) to be carried out on respective biological sample;

assigning processing of the test order on the biological sample to the one or more instrument clusters by the laboratory information system according to the list of processing capabilities of the instrument clusters;

forwarding one or more test order(s) by the laboratory information system to one or more cluster manager(s), wherein at least one of the one or more test order(s) comprises the multi-instrument assay workflow;

receiving the test order(s) from the laboratory information system by the one or more cluster manager(s);

assigning by each cluster manager resources of the plurality of laboratory instruments of the instrument cluster for the processing step(s) on the biological sample corresponding to the test order in view of the inventory of cluster resources;

instructing one or more laboratory instrument(s) of the instrument cluster by each cluster manager to carry out the respective processing step(s) on the biological sample, wherein, for the at least one instrument cluster whose list of processing capabilities comprises processing capabilities of the multi-instrument assay workflow, the cluster manager instructs at least two different types of laboratory instruments in the plurality of laboratory instruments to carry out the multi-instrument assay workflow; and

carrying out the respective processing step(s) on the biological sample by each laboratory instrument as instructed by the cluster manager.

2. The computer implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein the instrument resource descriptions of the laboratory instruments further comprise an indication of current and/or estimated availability of the hardware and/or software resources and wherein the list of processing capabilities of the respective instrument cluster further comprises an indication of current and/or estimated availability to carry the respective processing steps.

3. The computer implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein the instrument resource descriptions of the laboratory instruments further comprise an indication of current and/or estimated capacity of the hardware and/or software resources and wherein the list of processing capabilities of the respective instrument cluster further comprises an indication of current and/or estimated capacity to carry the respective processing steps.

4. The computer implemented method according to claim 3 , further comprises,

assigning resources of the plurality of laboratory instruments by the cluster manager for the processing step(s) on the respective biological sample in view of the availability and/or capacity of the resources of the laboratory instruments of the respective instrument cluster to provide load balancing between laboratory instruments with the same resources and/or to ensure timely processing of the biological sample.

5. The computer implemented method according to claim 1 , further comprises,

publishing an update of its instrument resource descriptions by one or more of the plurality of laboratory instruments at regular intervals and/or upon a change of its hardware and/or software resources; and

updating the inventory of cluster resources by one or more of the cluster managers based on the update(s) of instrument resource descriptions.

6. The computer implemented method according to claim 4 , further comprises,

transmitting by the cluster manager an updated list of processing capabilities to the laboratory information system if upon updating the inventory of cluster resources based on the update(s) of instrument resource descriptions, the respective instrument cluster is no longer able to carry out a particular processing step; and

transmitting by the cluster manager an updated list of processing capabilities to the laboratory information system such as updating the availability and/or capacity to carry the particular processing step if upon updating the inventory of cluster resources based on the update(s) of instrument resource descriptions, the overall availability and/or capacity of the instrument cluster to carry out a particular processing step is changed.

7. The computer implemented method according to claim 6 , further comprises,

re-assigning by the laboratory information system the processing of test orders on the biological sample(s) to another instrument clusters in view of the update of the list of processing capabilities of one or more of the instrument clusters.

8. The computer implemented method according claim 1 , further comprises,

retrieving by one of the cluster managers an assay workflow description, wherein the assay workflow description comprises a list and sequence of processing steps to be carried out on biological samples for a corresponding assay workflow;

consolidating by the cluster manager resources of a first laboratory instrument and a second laboratory instrument of the plurality of laboratory instruments of the instrument cluster for processing step(s) on the biological sample according to the list and sequence of processing steps of the assay workflow description, thereby setting up a multi-instrument assay workflow;

updating by the cluster manager its list of processing capabilities;

forwarding test order(s) by the laboratory information system to the corresponding cluster managers comprising the multi-instrument assay workflow in the presence of a test order indicative of the assay workflow to be carried out on respective biological sample(s); and

instructing the first laboratory instrument and the second laboratory instrument of the multi-instrument assay workflow by the cluster manager to carry out the respective assay workflow on the biological sample in the presence of a test order from the laboratory information system being indicative of the assay workflow to be carried out on respective biological sample(s).

9. The computer implemented method according claim 8 , further comprises,

setting up by the cluster manager a brokered data communication between the first and a second laboratory instrument of the instrument cluster via a communication broker;

transmitting and/or receiving data between the first laboratory instrument and the second laboratory instrument via the brokered data communication;

setting up a peer-to-peer data communication between the second laboratory instrument and a third laboratory instrument of the multi-instrument assay workflow by the cluster manager; and

transmitting and/or receiving analytical data by the second laboratory instrument directly to/from the third laboratory instrument via the peer-to-peer data communication.

10. The computer implemented method according claim 9 , wherein the brokered data communication uses a publisher-subscriber communication pattern and the peer-to-peer data communication uses a request-response communication pattern.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions thereon which, when executed by a computer system, cause a laboratory system to perform the steps of the method according to claim 1 .