title: A distributed microprocessing system for laboratory computing.
abstract: The concepts and practical implementation of a distributed processing system used for biomedical research demonstrably increase efficiency and cost effectiveness of microprocessor use. The hardware system is based on a minicomputer host and remote microcomputer slaves. Remote microcomputer systems are used for data acquisition and display, whereas the host system is used for data and program storage, as well as program compilation. The software used is the "C" programming language and the Unix operating system. Methods for programming the microcomputer in the higher level language "C" for laboratory usage are described. Examples illustrate how a distributed microprocessor system can be effectively used in a medical laboratory for the common tasks of data acquisition, processing, and display.
mesh_terms: D001698:Biomedical Engineering / Q000295:instrumentation*; D003201:Computers / Q000191:economics; D007753:Laboratories; D013677:Medical Laboratory Science / Q000295:instrumentation; D008838:Microcomputers / Q000191:economics