Quality Control

Quality control in Clearline LIMS connects routine results with the evidence used to trust them.

Specifications

Specifications define expected ranges for analysis results. They can be tied to sample types, client requirements, methods, or lab-specific rules depending on configuration.

Reference Samples and Controls

Reference samples represent materials with known expected values. They can be included on worksheets as controls, blanks, spikes, or duplicates.

QC Type	Typical Use
Control	Known material used to confirm method performance
Blank	Expected zero/none result used to detect contamination
Duplicate	Repeat analysis used to evaluate precision
Spike	Known addition used to assess recovery

Control Charts and Trends

Where configured, QC results can feed charts and reports by analyte, instrument, method, analyst, or reference lot. Use trends to catch drift before routine samples are affected.

Instrument QC

Instrument records can track calibration, maintenance, certificates, and QC failures. Some workflows can take instruments out of service after failed QC until corrective action is recorded.

Audit Trails

Audit logs record changes and workflow transitions on samples, worksheets, analyses, and configuration objects. Use audit logs during investigations, client questions, and accreditation audits.

Out-of-Range QC

An out-of-range QC result should trigger your lab’s SOP: quarantine affected results, rerun, investigate instrument status, add corrective action, or reject/retract routine results.