The link between blood flow in the retina and the development of glaucoma can now be measured accurately for the first time.

This was made possible by the further development of an established measurement method, optical coherence tomography (OCT), which enables the visual assessment of the retina and has thus become an important diagnostic tool. It does not, however, provide any information about retinal function...

XEI Scientific Inc, manufacturer of the popular EVACTRON® De-Contaminator™ Plasma Cleaning System for electron microscopes and other vacuum chambers, was awarded a US patent on May 6, 2014, for a device to load TEM sample holders into a vacuum chamber. 

XEI is pleased to announce that the company has been granted a new US patent # US8716676B2 which describes a new device to load TEM sample holders into a vacuum chamber. It was invented by invented by George Safar of the XEI development team. This device allows the TEM sample stage and holder to be easily inserted into XEI’s desktop Evactron® CombiClean™ plasma cleaner without fear of bumping the end of the holder or specimen when it enters...

A long-standing relationship with Agar Scientific has helped Dr Robert Young, currently working in the Cardiff Centre for Vision Science, throughout a research career spanning rheumatoid arthritis, ocular degeneration, osteoarthritis and corneal structure.

Use of microscopy has been at the heart of this work – covering various light microscopy techniques, transmission electron microscopy and 3D microscopy – and close ties with Agar have played a vital role, as Dr Young explained: “My first research lab had very close links with Alan Agar, the Company’s original founder. Alan used to come to the lab quite frequently, and we often got to test new products before launch...

Syngene, a world-leading manufacturer of image analysis solutions, today announced its new G:BOX Chemi XX6 is being used by scientists at the Karolinska Institutet for multiplex imaging of IR fluorescent viral proteins on Western blots.

This is contributing to rapidly providing researchers there with accurate information on the efficacy of hepatitis B and hepatitis C DNA vaccines. Researchers in the Department of Laboratory Medicine at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden are using a G:BOX Chemi XX6 multi-application imager to analyse viral antigens on multiplex Infrared (IR) fluorescent Western blots...

Market leaders in temperature controlled microscopy, Linkam Scientific Instruments, report on the use of their temperature controlled tensile stage at various Chinese laboratories for the research into biodegradable plastics.

Global demand for environmentally friendly materials has increased drastically over the last few years making it a multi-billion pound industry. This in turn has driven the demand for the production and research into biodegradable plastics such as poly(butylene succinate), PBS. Teams from Beijing National Laboratory, Beijing Key Laboratory of Clothing Materials and Tianjin University in China have been looking into the structural characteristics of these plastics to see how they are affected by tensile forces...

A new technical report from FLIR Systems details how developments in optical gas imaging camera technology are allowing smaller Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) leaks to be detected from a safer distance.

Detecting leaks of volatile, gaseous compounds can be dangerous, therefore operational safety of any detection technique is of vital importance for maintenance engineers. With Optical Gas Imaging (OGI) cameras, they make use of non-contact measuring Infrared technology that can detect, in real-time, small leaks from several meters away and big leaks from hundreds of meters away...

AMS Technologies presents a new compact hyperspectral imager product family from spectral sensing company BaySpec.

Hyperspectral imaging is well recognized for its potential, but widespread adoption has been limited by both bulk and cost. With BaySpec's miniaturized Hyperspectral OCI™-series handheld device based on low-cost semiconductor manufacturing processes, the cost of generating Hyperspectral images will drop significantly, enabling them to be used more frequently and at more sampling platforms...

Due to aging population in Europe the number of test volumes are increasing with 7,8% per year. This means an increase of more than 40% of the workload within 5 years time.

Market launch of ZEISS Smartzoom 5

At the trade show for quality assurance Control from May 6–9, 2014, the Microscopy business group of ZEISS presented its first automated digital microscope. The device particularly stands out thanks to its one-of-a-kind operating concept, which makes operation as easy as possible for the user. In an industrial environment, optical inspection is an important part of production-related quality testing. Parts such as screws, printed circuit boards, and metal elements need to be examined for defects...

JPK Instruments, a world-leading manufacturer of nanoanalytic instrumentation for research in life sciences and soft matter, reports on the use of the Quantitative Imaging mode for tissue engineering studies at Niigata University. 

Tomoyuki Kawase is an associate professor at the Institute of Medicine and Dentistry at Niigata University. His field of expertise is tissue engineering about which he has published several key papers. Professor Kawase is interested to determine the optimal stiffness or elasticity of cell scaffolding materials. In addition, it is also important to demonstrate dynamic changes in cytoskeletal fiber formation in response to the mechanical property of scaffolds... 

XEI Scientific Inc, maker of the popular EVACTRON^® De-Contaminator™ Plasma Cleaning System for electron microscopes and other vacuum chambers, has appointed remX GmbH, as distribution partners for their decontamination products in Germany. 

XEI Scientific has appointed new distributors for Germany. remX GmbH is a company specializing in hardware and software solutions for Scanning Electron Microscopes for industry and universities. Their specialty is in microscopy-based techniques such as electron microscopy and detectors such as EDX and SDD. They will also cover other European countries, particularly those speaking German. These include Austria, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Switzerland (German speaking regions only) and the Netherlands... 

FLIR Systems has announced that it has been named an Innovation Partner with Infiniti Red Bull Racing.

FLIR Systems has announced a new and enhanced version of its T650sc thermal imaging camera.

Tailor made for research and development the FLIR T650sc combines high accuracy (+/- 1°C) and outstanding sensitivity to routinely deliver accurate measurement of even the smallest temperature differences (<20mK). The FLIR T650sc measures temperature of up to +2,000 °C and includes a 5 Megapixel digital camera to provide clear visual images that may be overlaid with your IR data....

Analytik has announced the UK and Ireland release of the VideometerLab 3, an easy-to-use multispectral imaging and automated visual measurement system for fast and accurate determination of surface colour, texture and dimensions of manufactured and natural products. 

The innovative system offers higher illumination efficiency and improved UV signal-to-noise than its predecessors. The instrument integrates a high-resolution camera with advanced digital image analysis and statistics software. The output is an accurate and objective measurement of visual quality in less than 10 seconds. Imaging examples can be seen on the VideometerLab 3 product pages... 

Leica Microsystems opens an Experience Lab in the headquarters of the Japanese office in Tokyo, Japan. The laboratory is dedicated to product demonstrations of Leica microscope systems and workshops.

Additionally, it serves as a showroom for microscope users who wish to get to know the instruments and accessories like cameras, illumination and software. Users are free to bring their own samples to observe with the systems and can also take advantage of a sample preparation service for industrial samples to be observed and analyzed then and there. “We experience a strong demand from users who want to try out our instruments and see the performance with their own eyes. The Experience Lab is a fantastic opportunity for users....

Market leaders in temperature controlled microscopy, Linkam Scientific Instruments report on the use of their temperature controlled stages in the authentication of artwork at the Technical University of Denmark.

With the best part of half a million visitors every year, The Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek is the showcase for some of the most important cultural heritage artwork in the whole of Denmark. Established in 1882, it is an internationally renowned museum situated in the heart of the capital city of Copenhagen. The museum is built around the personal collection of art that belonged to Carl Jacobsen, the son of the founder of the Carlsberg Breweries....

BioTek congratulates Dr. Jeff Peterson of the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Pennsylvania for winning a new Cytation™ 3 Cell Imaging Multi-Mode Reader in BioTek's "Think Possible" Application Contest.

Entrants were judged on a short essay that they submitted, detailing the application that they think is possible for their specific research using the Cytation 3. As an Associate Professor, Dr. Peterson studies chemical biology and kinase signaling in cancer. "Multiplexing of disparate assays using multiple detection modalities is the future," Dr. Peterson wrote as part of his essay. "Cytation 3 is the first instrument that I am aware of that bridges the gap between imaging-based phenotypic screening and targeted assays using biochemical readouts....

HORIBA Scientific is pleased to announce the launch of EzPlex, the new flagship instrument of the label-free molecular interaction platform based on Surface Plasmon Resonance imaging (SPRi).

EzPlex gives quantitative and qualitative information on multiplex molecular interaction assays involving oligonucleotides, oligosaccharides, proteins, antibodies, aptamers or even cells and bacteria. The imaging capability dramatically enhances the throughput of conventional SPR and allows from few up to several hundred molecular interactions to be screened and characterized simultaneously. Interaction kinetic profiles can be obtained within minutes and give precious data about binding strength, kinetics and affinity....

JPK Instruments, a world-leading manufacturer of nanoanalytic instrumentation for research in life sciences and soft matter announces the expansion of their operations in China and USA. 

Tailor made for research and development the FLIR T650sc combines high accuracy (+/- 1°C) and outstanding sensitivity to routinely deliver accurate measurement of even the smallest temperature differences (<20mK).

The FLIR T650sc measures temperature of up to +2,000 °C and includes a 5 Megapixel digital camera to provide clear visual images that may be overlaid with your IR data. With real-time radiometric recording in the camera, it is possible to capture fast events on the camera’s SD card for further analysis by the supplied analysis software. A new highly intuitive touchscreen user interface facilitates productive use of the T650sc with a minimum of training.....

The PXi Touch imaging system is being used in a new application by scientists at the UK’s University of Cambridge to visualise multiplex fluorescent and chemiluminescent labelled proteins on the same Western blots. This is contributing to rapidly providing researchers there with more accurate and reproducible results.

Researchers in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Cambridge are using a PXi Touch multi-application imager to analyse proteins on Western blots stained with chemiluminescent and multiplex fluorescent dyes. Dr Emily Taylor, Laboratory Manager in the Department of Pharmacology commented: “We want to perform multiplex fluorescent Westerns because we can use the same blot to probe for different proteins as we’re looking at proteins ranging 30 kDa to 260 kDa and it is quicker and easier to use just one blot rather than looking at multiple blots for each protein....

Alexander Seifalian is Professor of Nanotechnology and Regenerative Medicine at UCL Centre for Nanotechnology and Regenerative Medicine within the Division of Surgery and Interventional Science at University College London, UK. His research focus is on the development of human organs using nano composite materials and stem cells as well as treatment of cancer using nanoparticles.

With nanoparticles requiring rapid and repeatable measurement, Professor Seifalian selected Malvern’s NanoSight Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis (NTA) system. Previous to this, he had used techniques including scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) but found that NTA made measuring size easier and more accurate. Professor Seifalian’s paper, "Fumed Silica Nanoparticle Mediated Biomimicry for Optimal Cell-Material Interactions for Artificial Organ Development” published in the Journal of Macromolecular Biosciences...