Mastersizer 2000 Software overview

Mastersizer 2000 software provides the means by which users can obtain greater uniformity of results from a highly advanced Laser diffractometer through better control of measurements without any increase in operating complexity.

The central concept of the software design revolves around the creation and use of SOP (Standard Operating Procedures). These are macros which are applied to control every aspect of a measurement and which can be created and adapted very easily.

Once an SOP has been created, it can stored in a library of SOPs and re-used. When any measurement is performed on the Mastersizer 2000, the controlling SOP is automatically stored with the result. An "Extract SOP" utility is provided to enable users to view the SOP used to create any measurement. This means that all measurement records can be critically evaluated and methods as well as results can be compared.

Live display of the detector array.
A live display has always been a major feature of Malvern Mastersizers and the Mastersizer 2000 is no exception. The live display gives users an invaluable diagnostic tool to judge the quality of a measurement being performed.

Ease of manual control of sample dispersion units.
Most of the sample dispersion units are controlled from the computer using on-screen sliders and radio buttons.

Customizability.
Apart from the ability to specify the exact measurement parameters embodied in the SOP concept, users have the ability to further adapt the output to conform to company norms. The main features available to users to customize their output are:

Report Designer.
This is a stand-alone utility included in the Tools menu of the software that allows users to create their own screens as well as standard reports. A useful feature of this utility is that screens and reports are linked so that either reports can be created which exactly mirror the screen display or very simple screens can be created which have corresponding highly detailed reports.
No programming skills are required to use Report Designer – creation of reports and screens is accomplished by the selection of objects (Tables, Graphs etc.) from a tool box and positioning them on the page by dragging and dropping using the mouse. A Custom Expressions tool allows key parameters to be calculated, displayed and printed out together with status indicators such as "Pass", "Fail" or "Call Supervisor".

Customizable Records Page for ultimate simplicity of data comparison.
The records page forms the main background on top of which all other functions are layered. This page shows all the records in a measurement file and is automatically updated on the completion of every measurement. This page typically shows the record number, the date and time of measurement, the d10, the d50 and the d90 together with the sample details and the Result Source (measured or edited). There is a choice of parameters from a table of 266 which users can also select and have these displayed instead of one or more of the standard parameters.

The huge advantage of the Records Page is that users can compare 32 records at once simply by comparing the values displayed in each data column. Users who used to compare results by overplotting them have come to realize that the records page gives the ability to compare many more records with absolute precision since the values are displayed with no extrapolation being required.

Customizable Trend Plots with Pass/fail criteria displayed.
Although the usual convention is to display the d10, d50 and d90 against time or record number, the trend plots are totally configurable to allow the plotting of any decile or moment of the distribution against other parameters.
A typical application of this feature is to plot the d10, d50 and d90 against dispersive air pressure in order to determine the ideal pressure to adopt in an SOP for the dry measurement of a fragile powder.
Pass/fail criteria can be displayed as transparent colored bands on the plot to provide an indication of the position of the boundaries without adding to the visual clutter of the plot.

Result emulation.
Some users who have been using sieves for many years can have difficulty reconciling laser diffraction results with sieve results. If their materials are oblong or needle shaped, they will always appear to be significantly finer when they are measured using sieves since particles will slip through the mesh of the sieve end on. If reliable sieve results are available, they can be entered into the result emulation utility which is found in the Tools menu of the software. This utility calculates the difference between each size band of the Mastersizer result compared with the sieve result and produces a table of offsets which can be applied to the Mastersizer 2000 result to produce a sieve emulation.
Result emulation can be used to emulate any measurement technique or instrument provided there are sufficient data points. The success of the emulation will depend on the reliability of the measurement technique being emulated.

Editing results.
Results can be edited to evaluate the effect of using different refractive indices during the development of a method. When a record is edited, it is never overwritten but the edited record becomes a new record which is appended to the record file.
When the software is operating in 21 CFR 11 mode, editing can be prohibited. Where it is permitted, a reason for change is demanded by the software.

Finding results.
Searching sorting and filtering is available within the Mastersizer 2000 software to enable users to find all instances of results having common features e.g. measured by the same operator; from the same laboratory; measured on the same day; having the d50 between the same upper and lower limits, having the d90 above a certain value. This provides users with a very powerful means of managing measurement data without the complexity associated with a database package.

Exporting Results.
Mastersizer 2000 is renowned for the ease with which individual measurements can be exported to other packages. Simply have the target package open in the background and highlight the result/s to be exported on the records page. Keeping the left mouse button depressed position the cursor over the icon of the target software on the taskbar. The target software package automatically opens and the cursor turns into a little envelope which can be positioned in the receiving document.
Exporting can be carried out automatically on completion of a measurement by the creation of an Export Template and specifying the use of the template in the measurement SOP.

Averaging Results.
Results can be averaged simply by highlighting them on the Records Page and selecting "Create Average Result" in the Edit Menu. The user is invited to give a name to the averaged result and add notes to explain the reason for producing the average. The averaged result is appended to the end of the Record File as a new record, marked "Average".