Wyatt Technology (Santa Barbara, CA) introduced a new version of its "Dyna-Pro" plate reader that can analyze well-plate samples, thus improving efficiency. The instrument controls the well plate's temperature between 4–70 °C. Dr. Michael Larkin, a senior scientist with the company, adds that the reader can measure as little as 4 μL of sample in a 1536-well plate. "We dropped the sample requirement by a factor of 10, and, our minimum detectable concentration dropped significantly as well," Larkin observes. He explains that the device requires one third the sample volume for well-plate measurements as is typically required for batch measurements.
The DynaPro reader attenuates collected light and adjusts the laser power, resulting in a 1 part in 106 increase in dynamic range of possible sample concentrations. This adjustability allows users to analyze samples ranging from dilute, low scattering samples to turbid, milky samples. The reader is appropriate for crystallography and formulation applications.
The "Checker 200" series inspection sensors from Cognex (Natick, MA) incorporate vision technology to detect and recognize parts. The vision technology ensures the units are accurate and "less likely to be tricked" than traditional sensors, according to John Keating, product marketing manager at Cognex. The devices track parts and move their brightness, contrast, and pattern-inspection sensors with the parts to overcome varying product positioning, Keating notes. Keating says the Checker 200 sensors have several advantages over traditional sensors. For example, the units inspect multiple elements on a product simultaneously without additional wiring. The devices also inspect a large area, rather than one point, as traditional sensors do, and are not subject to imprecise part handling. In addition, the Checker 200 units look for details such as product codes that traditional sensors cannot recognize. The devices are appropriate for package inspections and quality-control applications.
American Sensor Technologies (Mt. Olive, NJ) offers its "AccuGauge AG200" digital pressure gauge, which features a built-in display that shows real-time measurements in various units. Users can change pressure units to psi, bar, kg/cm2 , ATM, in. H2O, or Hg during operation without affecting the device's calibration, according to Karmjit S. Sidhu, the company's vice-president of business development. Users can change the device's calibration by ±10% while maintaining the 4–20-mA output signal.
The pressure sensor is a one-piece, stainless steel unit without o-rings or internal wells. This design ensures that the sensor withstands various media and does not contaminate users' processes. The core of the sensing element is composed of inorganic materials that do not degrade, thereby providing the element with long-term stability.
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