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Process Analytical Technology and instrument vendors are continually advancing the usability, reliability, accuracy and efficacy of their technologies. Companies in this sector introduced technological advancements and other innovations to better support lab and QA/QC operations.
When it comes to demonstrating new analytical equipment to the industry, PittCon has traditionally been a primary launching point for introducing PAT systems and innovations to the industry. Several vendors brought out new systems or introduced significant new features at the conference.
SPECTROSCOPY
• The nano-FTIR from Neaspec GmbH - combination of AFM (Atomic Force Microscopy) and IR - offers a technique woth exploring where small particle discrimination is needed.
• Spectroclick shared a portable instrument making use of consumer-grade megapixel camera technology to generate absorption spectra from 430 nm to 720 nm with intensity dynamic range comparable to instruments with more expensive detectors.
• Cobalt Light Systems introduced a powerful Raman system for raw materials identification -- a portable (not hand-held) instrument that can measure RMIDs through paper sacks, glass and opaque plastic containers.
• InnoSpec GmbH developed a small, rugged system for transmission imaging.
• The MA-5000 Series Application-Specific Spectroscopic Sensor by Symbion Systems offers hardware components that combine robustness with low power consumption, enabling models to operate on rechargeable batteries and software that allows analysts and technicians to perform QbD or merely PAT.
SOFTWARE TOOLS
• Instead of offering a number of software packages for each application (each needing to be shown 21CFR11 compliant), RuRo's Limfinity system is a single platform that can be configured for each application (billing forms, test samples, patients' information, sequencing instrumentation, etc).
MISCELLANEOUS
A number of vendors have introduced non-spectroscopic tools worth highlighting.
• As far as a delightfully simple idea is concerned, Hanna Instruments showed a stand-alone (WiFi/Bluetooth-based) pH electrode, named edgeblu.
• Excellims has added a high-performance ion mobility (HPIMS) spectrometer to its inventory, the IA3100 HPLC-HPIMS system.
• The Sirius Insight is a particle size analyzer that utilizes two measurement methods: Laser Obscuration Time (LOT) and digital video imaging.
• Oselsa Random Pattern Projector is a divergent dot matrix pattern of NxM pixels with a ratio of bright and dark pixels of about 15%.
• Skyray Instrument showed two low cost and easily used hand-held x-ray fluorescence (XRF) instruments.
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