Mesophotonics has developed a surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) toolkit for measurement of materials at sub-picogram levels.
Mesophotonics has developed a surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) toolkit for measurement of materials at sub-picogram levels.
Comprising a compact, laser-safe spectrometer, a complete data-handling software package and the company's Klarite substrates, the toolkit will provide analytical chemists with an affordable, all-in-one system for the development of trace level analysis applications.
The last two years has seen a significant increase in the number of laboratories using SERS, as new technologies such as Klarite enable dramatic enhancements in sensitivity and repeatability of sample analysis.
Applications include medical diagnostics, drug discovery, forensic analysis and homeland security, and initial results from high profile projects in the USA and Europe are extremely positive.
One example is the use of SERS to identify bio-markers for early diagnosis of osteoarthritis, a project being led by the University of Michigan for the US National Department of Health.
Klarite substrates enhance Raman signals by several orders of magnitude and offer unprecedented levels of reproducibility to enable faster, higher accuracy detection at lower detection limits.
And Mesophotonics' spectrometer SE1000 includes built-in video imaging and automated XYZ sample stage for rapid sampling and data collection.
Integration of industry-standard ACDLabs' SpecManager software ensures easy-to-use comprehensive data handling, including molecular structure interpretation, identification and quantification.
"This is the first time anyone has successfully integrated the three key elements for affordable adoption of SERS," explained Steve Allen, head of Mesophotonics' Analytical Business.
"Now, spectrometer, substrate and a complete spectroscopic data-handling software are all available in one toolkit, providing a complete system from sample-to-answer".
