Instrument Software · Modernization

Modernize Legacy Lab and Instrument Software Without Breaking Validation

QPillars migrates 10-15 year old desktop instrument software to modern web stacks. Phased, validation-safe, AI-ready. Built on shipped clinical-grade IVD instrument-control experience.

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What We Modernize

Four common modernization shapes we deliver - drawn from real engagements with biotech and diagnostic-instrument teams.

Legacy Desktop Instrument Apps → Modern Web

Migrate the host-side / operator-UI layer of desktop instrument software to React, Next.js, or Tauri. Same workflows, same operators, modern stack underneath. We pair with your existing .NET / Java team for legacy-side reading and migration. Phased rollout - your release schedule is not disrupted.

Legacy C++ Refactor

Modernize 10-15 year old C++ instrument-control codebases. Async patterns, modern threading, soft real-time data acquisition pipelines. We have shipped this pattern on clinical-grade IVD platforms.

Validation-Safe Migration

We protect your existing FDA / IEC 62304 / IVDR validation evidence during migration. Test parity, traceability, validation impact assessments throughout. The new system passes the same QA gates the old one did.

AI-Ready Architecture

Modernization is the right moment to make your instrument software AI-agent-ready. We add the abstraction layer (MCP, structured APIs) while migrating - so your next AI initiative does not require another rewrite.

What our clients say

“

What impressed me the most about them is their passion to deliver good products. QPillars has been an integral part of our team - their deep understanding of instrument software has been transformative for our product development.

Dr. Andreas Frutiger

VP of R&D, Lino Biotech AG

“

Their rapid understanding of our needs, agile way of working, and communication stood out. They delivered exactly what we needed - reliable, well-engineered software for our LigandTracer instruments.

Jos Buijs

CEO, Ridgeview Instruments AB

Frequently Asked Questions

Modernization is replacing legacy stacks (WPF, WinForms, C++ desktop apps) with modern alternatives (React, Next.js, Tauri, modern C++) while preserving instrument behaviour, validation status, and operator workflows. It is rarely a full rewrite - we use phased migration so you keep shipping during the transition.

Migration almost always wins. A from-scratch rewrite forfeits a decade of accumulated business logic, validation evidence, and operator muscle memory. We migrate piece-by-piece - UI shell first, then features, then the data layer. Each step ships independently. Your QMS does not see a step-change.

We treat validation evidence as a first-class deliverable. For each migrated module: test parity (same inputs produce same outputs), traceability matrix updates, validation impact assessments, and documentation updates that your QMS can absorb. We have done this on a clinical-grade IVD platform.

Yes - and it should be. We typically wrap legacy C++ instrument-control logic in a modern API layer (REST, gRPC, or MCP) and let the new web or desktop UI consume it. The hardware-control code is the most validated and most expensive to rewrite - we keep it, and modernize what surrounds it.

A typical instrument WPF application migrates in 4-9 months at our pod cadence (Component Ownership engagement). Smaller scopes - one feature module - run 6-12 weeks fixed-price. We always start with a 1-week scoping engagement to size the actual codebase honestly.

We add an MCP (Model Context Protocol) layer or a structured REST/gRPC API in front of the instrument logic, expose the right tools for an AI agent to invoke, and design the new UI to surface human-in-the-loop approval. When you later add an agentic AI copilot, the integration is days not months.

We sit at the intersection of regulated-environment validation, legacy C++ depth, and modern web engineering - rare in this market. We have shipped instrument software on a clinical-grade IVD platform, contributed to the SiLA 2 ecosystem (openapi-to-sila2 on PyPI), and ship the agent-ready architecture in every modernization engagement. Two delivered references and one open-source contribution back this up.

Sitting on a 10-year-old WPF instrument app?

We will scope the migration honestly in one week, fixed-price. You get a phased plan with effort estimates and a validation-impact assessment.

Start a Scoping Engagement