Thermo Fisher Scientific offers a diverse range of handheld analytical instruments for applications such as airport security, consumer product testing, supply chain integrity and industrial hygiene.
The company's strategy is to translate analytical technologies proven in the lab into handheld instruments for use in the field.
These devices are designed to meet demands created by increasing global trade and travel, interconnected supply chains and increasing environmental and consumer product safety awareness.
Thermo Fisher's aim is to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer through the capabilities of its handheld technology, which impact on areas such as quality control in pharmaceuticals; air- and water-quality testing; and the safety of the travelling public.
The company's handheld portfolio features a broad range of technologies, each suited for different screening applications.
For example, Thermo Scientific Truscan is designed to ensure the integrity of raw materials delivered to the loading dock and to authenticate finished products.
Professional organisation the Convention on Pharmaceutical Ingredients (CPhI), recently presented its Gold Innovation award to the company for the Truscan technology.
Using Raman spectroscopy, Truscan provides rapid and reliable identification of pharmaceutical materials and has been used to combat counterfeit drug trafficking.
Firstdefender (Raman) and Trudefender FT (FTIR) platforms are deployed by military and civilian first responders for identification of unknown chemicals including explosives, narcotics and toxic industrial chemicals.
Thermo Scientific Radeye, a pocket-sized personal radiation monitor, is used by emergency services and law enforcement personnel to protect against potential terrorist activity and to avoid unintentional exposure to radiation.
The US Mine Safety and Health Administration recently approved Personal Dust Monitors (PDMs) as the sole method for quantifying exposure to coal dust to protect miners from the devastating effects of lung disease.
These monitors protect miners by ensuring that the shift-average respiratory exposure does not exceed regulatory limits.
The US Consumer Product Safety Commission and Europe's Prosafe use handheld Niton XL3t XRF analysers, which are based on X-ray fluorescence technology, for the non-destructive screening of materials for harmful elements, including lead and cadmium in toys and children's jewellery.
Recent product recalls in the US have been based, in part, on improvements in this technology, providing additional protection for families with young children.
The Thermo Scientific Star line of handheld meters provides fast and accurate measurements of pH, conductivity and dissolved oxygen to ensure the safety of fluoride levels in drinking water or during the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, to measure dissolved oxygen levels that are critical to maintaining fish and marine life.
Thermo Fisher is committed to investing in RandD to migrate laboratory-based analytical methods into the field, delivering handheld technology capable of solving difficult analytical challenges.
