BioTrends EM

Workflow · Step 07 · Trend analysis

See patterns beyond individual results.

Explore monitoring results over time, compare sampling points and examine microorganism distributions. BioTrends EM® connects trend analysis with source records, facility maps and statistical tools for reviewing alert and action limits.

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01 — RESULTS OVER TIME

Identify changes before an action limit is reached.

Interactive graphs display results against the applicable alert and action limits. Compare multiple sampling points, display linked deviations and export the selected view. A regression line helps describe the direction of historical results.
Result statistics and frequency distributions complement the graphs, helping teams assess both individual excursions and broader patterns.

AIR-B-03 · Filling room 14 weeks · CFU
Counts over fourteen weeks Counts generally rise, exceed the alert level near the end, and remain below the action level. The dashed line shows linear regression. ALERT LEVEL ACTION LEVEL
counts linear regression alert and action levels of the point

Compare multiple sampling points on the same graph, display linked deviations and export the selected view. A regression line highlights the direction of historical results to support trend assessment.

02 — SOURCE RECORDS

Trace each plotted result to its session.

Open the sampling session associated with a plotted result to review the original monitoring activity, incubation details, readings and signatures. The session also retains its connection to the Sampling Plan from which it was created.

This is the whole workflow read backwards, and it is the moment where the discipline of the earlier steps pays for itself: the scan in the room, the second count, the signature. Without them there would be a chart, but nothing underneath it.

Plotted point

Week 14 · 8 CFU

AIR-B-03, above the alert level of the point.

Session

Filling room — routine control

Sampling, incubation and reading records, verification status and session signatures.

Sampling plan

Grade B · air · weekly

The approved plan that generated the session, with the limits this reading was measured against.

03 —FACILITY MAPS

Review results in their physical context.

Position sampling points on imported facility layouts and access their trends directly from the map. View linked deviations and out-of-limit results for the selected period, helping teams investigate where patterns occur across an area.

04 — LINKED DEVIATIONS

Keep deviations connected to monitoring records.

Record deviation reports, track their status and link them to the relevant sampling points or sessions. These connections bring the deviation record and monitoring evidence together for assessment and investigation.

Opened → Under handling → Linked to points and sessions → Closed

05 —SUGGESTED LIMITS

Use historical data to support limit review.

Calculate suggested alert and action limits from monitoring data that is homogeneous in environment type, sampling method and environmental class. BioTrends EM® provides three statistical approaches, each subject to its applicability conditions.

Mean + Standard Deviation

Calculate suggested thresholds using selected multiples of the standard deviation added to the mean.

Percentile

Calculate thresholds from selected percentiles of the result distribution, without assuming normally distributed data.

Gamma-Poisson / Negative Binomial

Model microbiological count data where the variance exceeds the mean. The system checks this condition and warns when the method is not applicable.

Review before adoption

Calculated values are suggestions for assessment by qualified personnel. BioTrends EM® does not automatically update the configured limits. Revised limits can be entered with an effective date, preserving their history.

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The monitoring workflow

Previous — Reporting Back to the first step — Planning