Jasco Europe have concluded the celebrations of Jasco’s 50th anniversary by moving into new facilities in Cremella, Italy. The 1400 m2 new office includes sales and marketing operations, a service and customer support department, logistics, IT and a manufacturing area. www.jasco-europe.com

The BAC151 video microscope sampling system has been developed by B&Wtek. The video microscope adapter enables portable Raman microscopy, bringing analysis out of the lab to wherever it is needed. It can be used with the company's Precision Raman Probe holder and is compatible with their complete line of laboratory and industrial Raman probes and when coupled with the company's portable Raman spectrometers, it provides the advantages of Raman microscopy at a low cost. The system includes an integrated camera and LED illuminator for precision spot sampling, the platform provides both coarse and fine adjustments in XYZ directions, adding an interchangeable coaxial and off-axis white LED illuminator which enables convenient alignment and viewing of the measurement field. A USB cable is included.Pacer International LtdIssue: 20/06 RSN:

A compact single wavelength laser controller, measuring 5″ × 4 ″ × 1.5″, designed for precision metrological and scientific applications, to complement the New Focus SWL-7500 single wavelength laser series, has been launched by Bookham. The system offers narrow line-widths for precision Raman experiments and long coherence lengths for high dynamic range surface profile measurements in interferometry applications. The SWL-7500 ECDL controller offers low noise and low profile, uses a quiet switching power supply or can be run on +5 V power input, has a simple graphical user interface with RS-232 or USB connectivity and is directly addressable via a command set. It is CDHR approved and RoHS compliant. A card level design is also available.Bookham Technology PlcIssue: 20/06 RSN:

Andor Technology has announced the successful outcome of a collaboration on a new portable spectroscopic instrument. This new instrument, dedicated to 1064 nm Raman spectroscopy, is based around the company's iDus InGaAs detector array camera and Bayspec's volume phase holographic grating spectrograph, offers thermo-electric detector cooling down to –85°C, USB2.0 plug and play connectivity, F/1.8 aperture and spectral resolution of 8 cm–1 with 3000 cm–1 spectral coverage.Andor Technology LtdIssue: 20/06 RSN:

Renishaw have unveiled their new Raman imaging system, the Streamline Plus Raman system. A development of this new system is its increase in speed due to optimisation of the software, detector hardware and the use of the company's new MS10 high-speed microscope stage, making it possible to collect spatially resolved chemical information from samples as large and complex as whole pharmaceutical tablets in a short space of time. The mapping also works well on biological cells and inorganic surfaces.Renishaw PlcIssue: 20/05 RSN:

Marleen de Veij,a Peter Vandenabeeleb and Luc MoensaaGhent University, Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry, Proeftuinstraat 86, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium. E-mail: raman@ugent.bebGhent University, Department of Archaeology and Ancient History of Europe, Belgium

Introduction

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), a counterfeit drug is one that is deliberately and fraudulently mislabelled with respect to identity and/or source. Counterfeiting can apply to both branded and generic products; counterfeit products may include products with correct or wrong ingredients, without active ingredients, with insufficient active ingredient or fake packaging.

RSP Systems has launched a new type of Raman spectrometer, mySpec Integrated, which enables the rejection of fluorescence in the spectra and increases reproducibility. This is made possible by using a double slit system in a fixed set-up. It also provides advanced chemometric possibilities due to the added data obtained. The system consists of a 532 nm laser, TE cooled CCD, 8 cm–:1 resolution, all fitted into a device measuring 300 × 185 × 85 mm. It is suitable for process control applications, in the laboratory and at/in line.RSP Systems ASIssue: 20/03 RSN:

asco has released its new RMP-300 Series portable Raman spectrometer systems. The instruments feature an integrated fibre-optic probe with a small X-Y-Z stage, a compact laser, a high-throughput spectrograph and CCD detector. No special utilities such as coolants are required, allowing the systems to be used almost anywhere. The flexibility of the optical fibre coupling enables remote measurements by locating the probe right at the sample. The fibre-optic probe features an integrated CCD camera for sample positioning and capture of digital sample images. The series consists of six models, ranging from small, portable units suitable for in situ measurements to research-grade systems that will meet most difficult application requirements. System operations are controlled by the Spectra Manager II windows-based cross-platform spectroscopy software package and are powerful enough for both laboratory work and on-site measurements in the fields of process control, QC, forensics, art conservation and mineralogy.Jasco Europe srlIssue: 20/03 RSN:

Scientists at the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire, UK, have developed an effective laser-based method for the non-destructive characterisation of the bulk chemical content of pharmaceutical capsules. In collaboration with Pfizer Ltd, the researchers in STFC's Lasers for Science Facility succeeded in quantifying the presence of the active pharmaceutical ingredient in production line relevant capsules to a relative error of 1%. Other established non-invasive methods were unable to reach the same level of accuracy with the same sample.

The technique holds great potential for a range of process control applications in the pharmaceutical industry. The results of the collaborative study are reported in the J. Pharm. Biomed. Anal. (doi: 10.1016/j.jpba.2008.01.013). The development stems from research into Spatially Offset Raman Spectroscopy, which is under development at STFC for a wide range of applications including the detection of explosives in non-metallic containers, the detection of counterfeit drugs through opaque packaging and the non-invasive diagnosis of bone disease and cancer [see Spectrosc. Europe 19(5), 7 (2007)]. The concepts, which are relatively simple to implement, were developed through experiments involving STFC's large scale facilities which provided crucial insight into photon transport processes.

The development is being carried out with STFC's knowledge technology transfer arm and the new techniques are planned for commercialisation through STFC's spin-out company LiteThru Ltd.

D3 Technologies is to establish a research and development and processing base for clinical molecular diagnostic products in Glasgow, UK. D3 bought the SERS/Klarite technology from Mesophotonics and is a subsidiary of Renishaw. The company is to use their expertise in SERS and DNA chemistry to develop products which will examine single samples of, for example, blood for several diseases simultaneously. www.d3technologies.co.uk

PerkinElmer have introduced their ExoAnalytix initiative. This is initially aimed at food and consumer product safety, water quality and sustainable energy development. The initiative will combine application-focussed solutions with information from leading scientists, industry experts and government. www.perkinelmer.com/ecoanalytix

S.T. Japan, who feature more than 130,000 ATR-FT-IR, Raman, transmission and NIR spectra covering all analytical applications and practice areas used in analytical laboratories, have added 600 new Raman spectra of chemical from Japanese manufacturers. With over 70 individual databases to search, spectra can be found for organic and inorganic compounds, polymers, surfactants, pigments, biochemicals, pesticides, forensic and industrial chemicals, explosives and excipients. The databases are designed to be functional and are available in nearly all spectral formats.S T Japan-EuropeIssue: 20/02 RSN:

Newport Corporation's Spectra-Physics Laser Division has unveiled a new single frequency laser at 505 nm with available output power at 10 or 20 mW and also announced increased output power for the 100 mW version of its 405 laser, 75 and 100 mW versions of the 561 product and a 60 mW version of the 635 device. The Excelsior platform has been designed for use in applications such as flow cytometry, DNA sequencing micro-array readers, confocal microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, laser-induced fluorescence, interferometry, semiconductor inspection and metrology.Newport Spectra-PhysicsIssue: 20/02 RSN:

The Bakerian Lecture is the Royal Society’s premier annual lecture in the physical sciences (in practice, physics, chemistry, mathematics, meteorology, metallurgy, astronomy, geology and related subjects) and dates back to 1775. Previous awardees have included Humphrey Davy, Michael Faraday, James Clerk Maxwell, Lord Rayleigh, Ernest Rutherford, Gerhard Herzberg, George Porter etc. Since 1901 when Nobel Prizes were inaugurated, 26 Nobel Laureates have given the Bakerian Lecture.

The 2008 Bakerian Lecture was given by Professor Robin Clark CNZM FRS, University College London, UK, on the subject “Raman Microscopy, Pigments and the Arts/Science Interface” at the Royal Society of London on Thursday 7 February. It was broadcast simultaneously to New Zealand and elsewhere and a recording of the lecture is available from the Royal Society’s webcast archive. Further information may be obtained at the website: www.royalsociety.org

 

 

Thermo Fisher Scientific has been awarded a US Patent on Spectrometric Data Cleansing. This patent describes a method for filtering artefacts from Raman spectra and is of particular use in removing the distorted data points generated by cosmic ray interference. www.thermo.com/raman

Witec has introduced the alpha500 and alpha700 microscopy series which combine confocal Raman microscopy for 3-D chemical imaging with atomic force microscopy for high resolution structural imaging in an automated system. A motorised sample stage with a travel range of 150 × 100 mm for the alpha500 and 350 × 300 mm for the alpha700 allow multi-area/multi point measurements or overview scans on an arbitrary, user-defined number of measurement points. Specific automated functions such as an integrated auto-focus and an automatic AFM-tip approach enable standardised routine measurement procedures or manually defined sequences to be performed without any on-going process control by an operator.WITecIssue: 20/01 RSN:

Semrock has introduced a new grade of ultrasteep Raman edge filters. The E-grade long-wave edge filters are steep enough to measure Stokes-shifted Raman signals closer to the laser line than before. Initial offerings of the E-grade RazorEdge filters for the 532, 633 and 785 nm lasers offer an edge steepness, measured from optical density 6 to 50% transmission, of 0.2% of the laser wavelength translating to 1 nm or about 40 cm–1 for a 532 filter edge.SemrockIssue: 20/01 RSN:

Bio-Rad's Informatics Division has received a Silver Award for its KnowItAll spectroscopy software in Scientific Computing's readers' choice awards. This is the 10th year in a row that Bio-Rad has been recognised in the spectroscopy software category. www.bio-rad.com

Thermo Fisher Scientific are offering credits for 100 Raman spectral searches on the reference library search site, ramansearch.com, with the purchase of new Nicolet Almega XR dispersive Raman microscopes and NXR FT-Raman spectrometers until 31 December 2007. The site contains libraries containing 16,000 Raman spectra, which are available on demand. www.thermofisher.com

The new #2000-A-C from Aabspec is a new spectroscopy system optimised for catalyst research. Features include reduced internal volume, special sample probe, reduced gas-phase pathlength and a special ported end plate. In addition to high temperature, high pressure/vacuum transmission spectroscopy, the new system provides a range of other facilities including low temperature spectroscopy, specular reflectance, large angle reflectance and Raman spectroscopy.Aabspec International LtdIssue: 19/06 RSN: