Company Announcements

B&W Tek announced in November the addition of its TacticID handheld Raman spectrometer onto the US General Services Administration Schedule 84 through its distributor Safeware.

In December 2017, PerkinElmer announced a collaboration with TeakOrigin, a company integrating technology and data platforms to serve as a detector for food authenticity and quality. The firms aim to develop a first-of-its-kind technology that uses a single platform to analyze a number of food types for key indicators that determine authenticity, quality and freshness. The research will leverage molecular spectroscopy, UV-Vis, mid-IR, NIR and Raman spectroscopy. The pilot testing will be for olive oil, honey and applies. In the future, the companies aim to develop and validate new handheld spectroscopic devices and chemometric models.

In February, Ocean Optics, a Halma company, announced a partnership with Pyreos, a supplier of thin film PZT phyroelectric sensors, to develop an ultra-fast, compact mid-IR ATR reflectance system. The first product, an OEM product for counterfeit food detection, is expected to debut in the first half of this year.

Product Introductions

WITec started shipping in November 2017 the Suite FIVE data acquisition, evaluation and processing software with the new ability to compensate for thermal and mechanical variations during long-term measurements.

Sage Analytical introduced in November 2017 the next generation Profiler II—Humboldt Special Edition for accurate measurements of THC and CBD within seconds.

In November 2017, CRAIC Technologies launched the Apollo II Raman microscpectrometer for routine research. It can be added to the company’s 20/30 PV microspectrophotometer, allowing Rman microspectra to be collected in addition to UV-Vis-NIR absorbance, reflectance and photoluminescence microspectroscopy, and imaging.

Rigaku Analytical Devices announced in December 2017 a library update to the software for its Progeny ResQ 1064 nm handheld Raman analyzer giving users the ability to identify more opioids, including various fentanyl compounds.

In January, Wasatch Photonics debuted the Cobra-S optical coherence tomography spectrometer, with a speed of 250,000 lines per second.

In January, X-Rite introduced the MetaVue VS3200 spectrophotometer, calling it the first non-contact instrument for industry applications that combines color imaging with spectrophotometry. Applications include testing in the plastics, coatings, cosmetric and food industries. It features an adjustable aperture size of 2–12 mm for measuring a wide range of samples.

In January, TSI/ChemiLogix announced the integration of its Raman spectroscopy instruments with Spectragryph software. Spectrogryph is a universal interactive optical spectroscopy software developed by Spectroscopy Ninja.

TOPTICA launched in January the TeraFlash Imaging Extenstion for its TeraFlash time-domain spectroscopy platform, features faster measurements, with the acquisition of complete waveforms at up to 16 pixels/sec.

In January, Thermo Fisher Scientific unveiled the newly designed Thermo Scientific GENESYS UV-Vis spectrophotometer family, available in four models, optimized for usability and performance. Also launched was a new line of accessories.

Wilmad-LabGlass introduced in February its Benchtop NMR Tubes, which are produced specifically for 43 MHz, 60 MHz, and 80 MHz benchtop spectrometers with manual sample loading. They are available in 7 in and 8 in tube lengths.

In February, HORIBA Scientific launched the Duetta fluorescence/UV-Vis spectrofluorometer, featuring Absorbance-Transmittance Fluorescence Excitation Emission Matrices. The addition of absorbance simultaneously collects another molecular parameter (color) and the absorbance enhances the usable concentration range of fluorescence measurements. Scan speed is 510,000 nm/min, and wavelength range is 250–1100 nm.

Sales and Orders of Note

In December 2017, contract testing service SSCI, part of AMRI’s Global Analytical Services, announced it will expand its NMR capabilities with the addition of the Bruker AVANCE NEO 600 MHz NMR spectrometer. The system will be operational in late 2018.