Market place

Market Place

Assay plates

The Automation Partnership (TAP), of Royston, UK, has showcased its Coda high throughput automated nanolitre assay plate production system for the first time in Europe at the IQPC Compound Management and Integrity 2009 Conference in London, UK.

The Coda system, developed in partnership with a major compound management group at a top ten pharmaceutical company, integrates up to three Labcyte Echo 555 liquid handlers into a compound management workflow to enable fast and efficient production of up to 300 384-well plates in 4.5 hours (at 5nl sample volume).

This modular system can be configured to suit any pharma company's sample management programmes and would typically include a conventional liquid handler for dispensing buffer or diluent, a centrifuge for ensuring liquids are at the bottom of the plate and TAP's specialist Echo robotic feeding arm designed to work reliably with the Echo's loading stages. Coda can also have labelling and plate sealing modules integrated, as well as using PlateSafes or plate hotels to ensure full compound tracking and secure plate storage.

When coupled with relevant modules of TAP's powerful Concerto Sample Management Software, Coda can generate a comprehensive range of plate formats.

High-definition MS

At the 57th American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) Conference in Philadelphia, US, in June 2009, Waters Corporation introduced the Synapt G2 system, a new range of high-performance mass spectrometers, based on the Synapt system which won the Pittcon Editors' Gold Award in 2007.

The Synapt G2 system has new QuanTof and improved high-definition MS technologies providing in excess of 40,000 FWHM resolutions, high sensitivity, a data acquisition rate of 20 spectra per second, exact mass (1 ppm RMS) information and a dynamic range of up to five orders of magnitude. The system can also be paired with Waters' Acquity Ultra Performance LC.

A new ion detection system unites an ultra-fast electron multiplier with hybrid ADC detector electronics to offer outstanding qualitative and quantitative performance for both MS at elevated data acquisition rates.

Integrated second-generation Triwave Technology, the ion mobility resolving power of the Synapt G2, is up to four times higher than the original Synapt system. Moreover, QuanTof technology offers simple exact mass measurement and enhanced dynamic range for IMS/MS experiments, resulting in the highest coverage and confidence for novel discovery analyses.

Flexible reactor

Cambridge Reactor Design (CRD) has launched the Chameleon Adaptable Reactor System for batch and continuous chemistry. This flexible system can be easily switched between the two modes, has excellent temperature and pressure control, and can accommodate a range of online analysis tools, giving every chemist the opportunity to fully explore the alternatives for their reactions. Small working volumes (5-20ml vessel size) and a compact footprint mean this is truly lab scale equipment and allows the Chameleon to be installed in any fume cupboard without the need for any special facilities.
sales@crduk.com

Pure water

Elga of Marlow, UK, has launched a new Purelab water purification system specifically for laboratories needing large volumes of Type II purified water at multiple application points.

The Elga LabWater Purelab 7000 is ideal for laboratories needing a compact system to supply high quality Type II water to small distribution loops. Up to 120l h^-1 can be distributed to feed polishers and two or three dispense points in addition to the main application, while an internal 50l wrap-around reservoir dispenses at rates of up to 4l min^-1 to ensure peak demand is met.

A combination of high rejection membranes, purification cartridges with enhanced organics removal and a final 0.05m filter produces purified water with resistivity better than 15 M W cm, TOC less than 10ppb and total bacteria counts below 1cfu ml^-1. The purified water is continuously recirculated through the purification technologies to maintain microbial purity.

As with all the Purelab models, the 7000 has simple sanitisation processes designed to run quickly and easily. The RO membranes and local distribution loop are purified by a unique sanitisation design, while user-defined electronically-protected reminders ensure quality is always maintained. The resin mix in the long-life deionisation cartridge is economic and increases the yield of the purification packs, while the optional carbon dioxide degasser can further extend the cartridge life.

FTMS

Bruker Daltonics of Billerica, US, launched the solariX, its next generation hybrid Qq-FTMS platform, at the ASMS Conference on Mass Spectrometry in Philadelphia, US.

Its broad-band, ultra-high resolving power (>1,000,000 @ m/z 400, for a 7 tesla instrument) and outstanding sub-ppm mass accuracy make the solariX ideal for the analysis of extremely complex mixtures, especially those that are not amenable to high-resolution chromatography separation techniques. These applications can include: hydrocarbon related analysis ('petroleomics'), environmental soil/sediment analysis, small-molecule biological tissue MALDI imaging, metabolomics, and the inherently complex peak patterns resulting from top-down proteomics.

SolariX is the first FTMS system with Electron Transfer Dissociation (ETD), ideal for in-depth, comprehensive analysis of proteins and peptides and their labile, post-translational modifications (PTMs).

Mass spectrometry

Thermo Fisher Scientific launched the LTQ Orbitrap Velos systems at Achema 2009 in Frankfurt, Germany in May.

The LTQ Orbitrap Velos combines the proven mass accuracy and ultra-high resolution of the Orbitrap mass analyser, with the increased sensitivity and improved cycle time of the LTQ Velos to deliver high performance hybrid mass spectrometry, ideal for the analysis of complex mixtures, such as the identification of low level proteins and structural elucidation of metabolites in biological matrices.

The high mass accuracy of the LTQ Orbitrap Velos increases the speed and confidence of protein identification in complex samples by minimising false positives. The ultra-high resolution delivers certainty in analytical results by enabling molecular weight determination for intact proteins and in-depth analysis of isobaric species. For proteomics researchers, these capabilities enable the identification of more proteins with increased sequence coverage and higher confidence.

The new HCD cell in the LTQ Orbitrap Velos is more efficient, resulting in improved quantitation of isobarically-labeled peptides, such as applications requiring tandem mass tags (TMT). Electron transfer dissociation (ETD) generates complementary information for highly sensitive PTM analyses and de novo sequencing.

Image sensors

Hamamatsu Photonics of Welwyn Garden City, UK, has introduced the new S10420 series, the latest addition of brand new high performance, cost effective back thinned CCD image sensors.

Back thinned technology provides excellent sensitivity in the UV and blue end of the spectrum, combined with high quantum efficiencies in the visible (>90 per cent QE) and near infrared (to almost 1200nm). Until now the cost of the back thinning process has limited the widespread use of this technology, but the S10420 has been developed and optimised specifically for lower cost, portable spectroscopy.

The S10420 comes in two formats, with either 1024 or 2048 pixels length and 64 pixel height, which gives added sensitivity compared to use of linear CCD sensors which were not originally developed for analytical applications. With quantum efficiencies >50 per cent in the UV region the device has excellent uniformity and long term stability, thus reducing the costs associated with re-calibration of some current field instrumentation.

Applications for this product range include UV-Vis and emission spectrophotometers, industrial process control, high speed colour measurement, blood analysers, portable spectrometers, water pollution analysers, and many more.

Dissolved oxygen

Analytical Technology Inc. (ATi) has launched the optical Q45D Dissolved Oxygen Monitor with Auto-Clean System to provide reliable oxygen measurements in aeration processes and reduces maintenance requirements via the self-clean facility. Using a clean monitor such as the Q45D in wastewater treatment processes produces highly accurate results and lowers carbon emissions by reducing the amount of energy consumed.

The Q45D system's self-clean system uses high pressure blasts of air to remove any material that builds up on the membrane, preventing inaccurate readings and reducing maintenance. It can be programmed at user-defined intervals from once per hour to once per day. When the sensor is kept clean it reads at accuracy levels of better than 0.1ppm meaning energy costs are lower as energy is not wasted on producing false or repeated readings.

The Q45D is available with a choice of two sensors: traditional galvanic or optical. The galvanic sensor uses a robust 5 ml Teflon membrane which acts as a barrier to allow molecular oxygen to diffuse into the reaction cell where it is reduced at the working electrode, producing a small current that is proportional to the oxygen concentrate. The optical system uses a florescence quenching technique to measure dissolved oxygen.
sales@atiuk.com

Probe for analysers

DGEA Pharma Systems and J&M Analytik have won first prize in the Process Automation category of the Process Innovation Awards presented at the Achema conference in Frankfurt.

The award was won for the Lighthouse Probe, which solves the biggest issue of optical in-line analysers: product sticking to observation windows of the process analyser and creating false readings. It can be used with a variety of spectroscopic techniques, including near infrared, to take reliable in-process measurements of quality-critical product characteristics during processing, for example active content identification, uniformity, moisture content and coat growth during coating operations.

The probe is particularly useful when working with wet or sticky products when it is essential to ensure a clear view of the product. Conventional windows can easily become fouled when processing these types of products. The Lighthouse Probe uses an in-line, contained window wash to keep a clear view at all times without the need to stop the process. Further features are the in-line calibration as well as end of process full CIP (Clean-in-Place).

Autosampler

Autosampler

Cecil Instruments of Cambridge, UK, has launched AutoQuest LC autosamplers, designed for use with the Cecil Adept HPLC, Q-Adept HPLC and IonQuest Ion Chromatography Systems, and other third party LC systems.

Available with 50 or 100 sample positions, these reliable autosamplers provide ultra low carry-over, ultra high injection precision, priority sampling, replicate injections and sample volumes from 5l to 2ml.