Each year, IBO selects the top three new products (defined as launched within the past six months) introduced at Pittcon, the largest analytical instrument show in the US. IBO evaluates new products based on technological advancements, commercial potential and innovation. This year’s winners demonstrate novel performance or testing capabilities that position them for market success.

JEOL CryoARM TEM

IBO has selected JEOL’s seventh generation TEM, the CryoARM, as the best new product at Pittcon 2017. The selection is based on the best-in-class status and potential commercial opportunities for cryo-TEM. There is substantial interest in the field of structural biology to constantly lower the resolution limits in order to solve protein structures using cryo-TEM techniques and make them competitive to X-ray crystallography techniques, which require the tedious prerequisite of crystal formation.

The Cryo-ARM TEM product line is offered in two models, the ARM200F and ARM300F, with 200 kV and 300 kV voltage sources, respectively. They feature full automation capability, enabling the high-throughput imaging of specimens unattended for 24 hours using a 12-sample autoloader.

The system’s cold Field Emission Gun (cFEG) option, designed particularly for life science applications, reduces the contrast level significantly, paving the way for the structural determination of macromolecules down to 3.2 Å resolution. With a maximum resolution of about 50 pm at 300 kV, the CryoARM now owns the title of the TEM with the highest resolution in the world. The first CryoARM 300F will be installed in Japan next month, at a price of $4–$5 million.

CEM ORACLE Fat Analyzer

IBO has also chosen CEM’s ORACLE Fat Analyzer as one of the best new products at Pittcon 2017. IBO has selected the product due to its ease of use and unique analytical capabilities that can be expected to expand the market. Released last fall at a price of $65,000, the NMR-based system enables fat analysis on any food type with no method development. This provides time and labor savings compared to wet chemistry and IR techniques, and even other NMR-based systems, according to the company. Consequently, end-users can test any sample without knowing its composition or having to correlate it to reference chemistry. The system is available in rapid and high-throughput models.

The system has an advanced software screen and touchscreen features, allowing for timely results and analysis with one touch. It requires no operator involvement, and no chemicals or solvents. Consequently, it is expected to drive wider application of NMR-based fat testing.

ACD/Labs LUMINATA

IBO’s third choice for a top new product at this year’s Pittcon is ACD/Labs’s LUMINATA platform. The software provides new capabilities for impurity profiling, compiling chromatographic and spectral information from multiple instrument platforms, enabling retrospective searches and easier data management. The system can save time and money, for example, by reducing the need for retesting as well as eliminating Excel-based file searches.

LUMINATA characterizes the substance impurities and allows standardization of the analytical data for impurities in order to improve real-time tracking for better traceability. According to the company, the efficient assembly of analytical, chemical and process information in an enterprise informatics environment is aimed at companies that want to establish impurity control strategies, along with offering the ease of gathering visual experimental data for regulatory bodies. It will be available this summer.