Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., the world leader in
serving science, highlights that its FT-IR instrumentation provides scientists
with increased confidence in their results during Quality Assurance/Quality
Control (QA/QC) testing. This means scientists are able to focus on handling
the ever growing number of samples produced and letting the responsibility for
performance verification go to the instrument itself. The Thermo Scientific
FT-IR instrument is designed to result in improved efficiency within the
laboratory and simplify the process of complying with regulatory requirements.
A technical note on this topic is available to download from:
www.thermoscientific.com/ftirconfidence.
The main function in QA/QC testing is to determine
whether or not a product meets control specifications in relation to its
identity, composition or purity. Each stage of QA/QC testing is defined by
strict standard operating procedures (SOPs) due to the importance of product
quality. Performance Verification routines provide regulatory and audit level
detail on spectrometer performance, testing FT-IR systems against
manufacturer-published specifications. Not having to worry about the
performance of their apparatus means the analyst can devote more of their time
to more critical matters.
An example of how the process of QA/QC has been
simplified can be seen by looking at polymer blends of polyethylene and
ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), which are used for making food packaging films
and hot melt adhesives. The raw
materials contain EVA at various concentrations blended with polyethylene. To provide the correct functionality of the
polymer film, the EVA concentration of production lots must be controlled
within very tight limits. Spectra from samples with a range of EVA concentrations
are obtained and saved as references. Following this the FT-IR spectrometer is
used to routinely verify that material from the production line is at the
expected polymer blend level using the Thermo Scientific QCheck algorithm with
its unique high sensitivity setting to highlight very small but important
differences that may be present in the sample. This allows the QC laboratory to
quickly confirm the polymer blend with a high level of confidence in the
results.
"Thermo Fisher is a leader in FT-IR spectrometer
hardware, but we also continue to strive to make the process simpler for
analysts. New advances in both FT-IR spectrometer hardware and software are
moving responsibility for instrument performance from the analyst to the
instrument itself," comments Brian Davies, vice president and general
manager of molecular spectroscopy and microanalysis Thermo Fisher Scientific.
"Performance Verification and System Suitability tests notify users when
their spectrometer is ready to be used, while features such as QCheck allow
single product classification.
This means the analyst can focus more on processing
samples in the laboratory and do not need to gain an in depth knowledge of
every part of the FT-IR operation."
For more information about the Thermo Scientific FT-IR
Spectrometer please call 1-800-532-4752. e-mail
analyze@thermo.com or visit
www.thermoscientific.com/ftirconfidence.
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