QImaging's optiMOS Scientific CMOS (sCMOS) camera for fluorescence microscopy has won aLaboratory Equipment Readers' Choice Award in the "Optics & Image Analyzers" category. Award entries were evaluated and voted on by a panel of Laboratory Equipment readers and selected by the magazine's editors.

"The optiMOS sCMOS camera is a budget-friendly CCD alternative that gives cell biologists the performance they need to capture rapid cellular dynamics without the data management hassles typically associated with digital microscopy," said Chris Ryan, QImaging's product manager. "We are honored to have Laboratory Equipment'sreaders recognize our product's achievements."

The UK’s University of Leeds Electron Microscopy and Spectrocopy Centre (LEMAS), internationally renowned as a leading research centre in microscopic and spectroscopic characterisation, has extended its electron microscopy capability by installing the first of a new generation of high performance cold field emission SEMs.

The Hitachi SU8230 at Leeds is the first SEM in Europe to utilise the latest high stability CFE technology and will be used for nanomaterial characterisation in pharmaceutical, catalysis and energy applications.  Ultra-low voltage capabilities, including low-loss BSE imaging, will provide information on the true-surface and electrical properties of materials at nanoscale resolution. Being equipped with angle-selective BF and DF STEM, the SU8230 will enable correlative studies with TEM, especially on...

FLIR Systems announces the FLIR A6700sc – an affordably priced, compact thermal imaging camera designed for industrial R&D applications that need better image quality, more sensitivity and a higher frame rate than what can be obtained from a camera with an uncooled detector.

The FLIR A6700sc incorporates a cooled Indium Antimonide (InSb) detector that operates in the 3- to 5-micron waveband. A broadband version operating on the 1- to 5 micron waveband is available. Both versionsproduce crisp thermal images of 640 x 512. Achieving a high thermal sensitivity of <20 mK, the FLIR A6700sc is able to capture the finest image details and temperature difference information. In addition, precise camera synchronization and...

The advent of nonwoven nanofibers is enabling the development of a new generation of highly sensitive filters. Surging global demand is creating a compelling need for improved production and quality control methods.

Currently, much of the industry is using old technology for process monitoring and control, yielding limited data. As a result, critical details that affect a filter’s performance are often overlooked because accurate performance data cannot be easily and quickly verified. Without SEM imaging, it is not possible to discern the important features during nanofiber filter design. The Fibermetric software supported on the Phenom desktop SEM is the first integrated system designed for submicron fiber development....

Dr Rico Tabor leads the Soft Materials and Colloids Group in the School of Chemistry at Monash University.

Research focuses on several areas. At a fundamental level, the group is interested in exploring the interactions that cause aggregation and assembly, in everything from nanoparticles, droplets and graphene to proteins and cells. This ranges from quite fundamental studies of things like the van der Waals force (of quantum origin) and electrical double-layer interactions, right through to unwinding protein molecules and the forces experienced by...

Anasys Instruments reports on EPFL’s latest research on lysozyme droplets and α-synuclein macromolecular aggregates illustrating application of the nanoscale AFM-IR technique to demonstrate α to β secondary structure transition associated with amyloid formation. 

Proteins aggregating into amyloid structures are involved in important neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. During aggregation, initially monomeric proteins undergo internal structural rearrangement forming amyloid fibrils with a universal cross β -sheet quaternary structure. During fibrillation, several coexisting amyloidogenic species are formed and the study of these species would allow...

Distributors Mikro-Optik Tibbi Malzeme Ithalat Ihracat ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi and Gantenbein Ticaret Mürsel Gelincik ve Ortagi Adi Komandit Sirketi Have Been Acquired.

Leica Microsystems has strengthened the alliance with its Turkish distributors Mikro-Optik Tibbi Malzeme Ithalat Ihracat ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi and Gantenbein Ticaret Mürsel Gelincik ve Ortagi Adi Komandit Sirketi, thereby deepening its market presence in Turkey. All relevant assets of the two companies, both of Istanbul, with another office of Gantenbein's in Ankara, have been acquired as of June 4, 2014...

Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (Homerton) in east London has selected BridgeHead Software (BridgeHead), the specialist Healthcare Data Management company, to implement its Vendor Neutral Archive (VNA) for a comprehensive pan-organisational image management strategy, prior to its selection of a replacement PACS imaging system.

The BridgeHead VNA gives Homerton complete flexibility and neutrality on its ‘yet to be determined’ PACS as well as its underlying storage infrastructure. BridgeHead’s VNA also enables the Trust to take a more strategic approach to its data management, enabling it to more efficiently locate and share all patient data with multiple clinical teams across multiple healthcare departments...

With Olympus’ unique GEM interface integrated into the latest release of the cellSens imaging software, executing even the most intricate life science imaging experiments is now realised with outstanding ease and efficiency.

Personalised automation is the key to managing complex multi-dimensional experiments, and the latest Olympus cellSens imaging software (version 1.11) seamlessly controls motorised hardware to allow effortless set-up of complex acquisition sequences and protocols. The unique Graphical Experiment Manager (GEM) interface allows the user to "draw" their experimental schematic on-screen with...

A portable eye-scanning camera that could prevent blindness in millions of diabetes sufferers is being developed in Scotland, thanks to backing from angel investors.

The handheld device, built by Rosyth-based company Epipole, is the first portable and affordable camera capable of diagnosing diabetic retinopathy - a condition responsible for two million cases of preventable blindness worldwide. Now Dr Craig Robertson, 45, the managing director and founder of Epipole, has signed a £400,000 investment deal which will enable his firm to develop a single working prototype into a commercial reality. As well as being a landmark for Epipole, it is also the first major deal for newly launched Scottish angel syndicate, Lancaster Capital...

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.