GUIDE · UPDATED 2026
Getting result files off a standalone instrument PC
Many laboratory instruments run on a workstation that is deliberately kept off the network: an old operating system, a validated configuration nobody wants to touch, or a site policy that forbids the connection. The data still has to leave. In practice it leaves on a USB stick — the industry even has a name for it, "sneakerware" — and the recurring finding is not speed but that the transfer leaves no reliable audit trail.
Written by Taha Bayar, a biologist working on laboratory data handover. Kionel sells one of the options below; the comparison is meant to be usable even if you choose another.
The options
| Route | Good for | What an auditor asks |
|---|---|---|
| Approved, controlled USB | Any size, already familiar | Who took it, what was on it, was it scanned, where is the record? |
| Data diode | Continuous one-way flow between two networks | Was the receiving side verified? Cost and installation are high for occasional files. |
| Scanning kiosk | Sites that must keep removable media | The media is still there, just scanned. Who approved this transfer? |
| Printing and re-keying | A handful of values | Transcription errors; a second person must check. Not viable for files. |
| Optical transfer (screen to camera) | Small files, no media, no network | Does the site allow cameras? Is there a record of the handover? |
The question behind all of them
Regulated laboratories are expected to keep an audit trail for data and for second-person review. Standalone instrument workstations are singled out in inspections precisely because they often lack one: shared accounts, manual copies and no record of who moved which file where.
So the choice is less "which cable" and more: after the file has moved, what can you show? A route that produces a record you can hand to an inspector is worth more than a faster route that produces none.
Where Kionel fits
Kionel is the optical route with the record attached: the file is encrypted, carried on screen and read by a camera, and both sides sign what was sent and what was received. The receipt verifies offline, years later, with a tool that stays free under Apache-2.0. It suits small files — results, certificates, methods, configurations — and it is the wrong tool for bulk data.
It does not sanitise file content, and it needs a site that permits cameras. If your site bans cameras or an approved USB route with its own audit trail already works, use that instead.
Try it on your own bench
The demo transfers a sample file between two of your devices, end to end, including the signed receipts. Nothing is uploaded.