New imaging systems provide increased productivity and greater understanding of samples for laboratories in pharmaceutical, chemical and materials, forensics and academic industries
PerkinElmer announced at Neuroscience 2006 the newest innovations in FT-IR Imaging with the launch of the Spotlight 400 FT-IR and 400N FT-NIR imaging systems.
These new systems are designed to increase productivity and understanding of samples with faster data collection, more sampling and spatial resolution flexibility, and longer unattended operating time.
"Simply stated, the Spotlight 400's features are intended to allow labs to run more samples per day and advance the understanding of materials," said Simon Wells, molecular spectroscopy business manager, PerkinElmer Life and Analytical Sciences.
"With the Spotlight 400's additional focus on productivity tools, it is anticipated that customers will be able to reduce the cost of problem-solving, increase sample throughput, improve product quality, and reduce the time-to-market of new products - all in an easy-to-use system".
FT-IR chemical imaging systems are commonly used in product defect analysis, product formulation, trace evidence testing and academic research.
The Spotlight FT-IR imaging systems serve a diverse range of end markets, including polymers, chemicals and materials, academic research, pharmaceutical, cosmetics and forensics.
Wells noted that because of their image quality and high-throughput performance, the Spotlight systems are now also utilised in biomedical imaging research to study diseases at earlier stages.
"The development of the Spotlight 400 reflects PerkinElmer's commitment to working closely with customers to develop and deliver analytical solutions with consideration for their technical, laboratory resource and workflow requirements," Wells added.
PerkinElmer employs linear array detector technology in the Spotlight 400 series that addresses larger sample sizes and increases captured IR spectral range.
The instrumentation has a number of spatial resolution options and fast data collection modes.
This allows for reduced measurement time while providing spatial resolution and data quality for applications requiring lower detection levels.
To increase laboratory efficiency, the Spotlight 400 series was designed to collect multiple chemical pictures in a single operation.
New options include a tablet autosampler, enlarged detector cooling storage and larger sampling areas.
The system can operate unattended for long periods and overnight.
"In response to requests from biomedical researchers for even greater accuracy, we have also introduced a unique environmental enclosure with this system," Wells noted.
He explained that the enclosure assists researchers and analysts in distinguishing spectral variations in the sample from spectral variations due to atmospheric gases, thereby increasing the likelihood of detecting smaller changes in the sample's spectral features.
ATR accessory enhances analysis.
"By combining the new Spotlight 400 system with our new ATR imaging accessory, scientists have an approach to analysing difficult samples, and they benefit from enhanced spatial resolution," Wells said.
"Add to this our easy-to-use chemometrics, and labs have a tool for increasing data quality and available image area".
The introduction of the Spotlight 400 system supports PerkinElmer's increased focus on the imaging market, with a significant investment in product development, and software and accessories, with an enhanced focus on customer service and support.
Other new imaging systems introduced by PerkinElmer at Neuroscience include the Geliance family of gel imaging systems and the photokinesis accessory for the Ultraview confocal live cell imaging systems.
