rap.ID introduces ground breaking technology combining Raman Spectroscopy and Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS)

rap.ID Particle Systems has finally reached a long awaited goal of providing superior trace analysis services. One of rap.ID's newest products on the market, The Single Particle Explorer (SPE) raman.ID + metal.ID 5, can automatically detect the chemical structure and elemental composition of a 15 micron sized particle. The SPE raman.ID + metal.ID utilizes an automated optical microscope to measure the shape and size of each particle, then immediately executes chemical analysis, and finally records the results in a spectra library without the need for sample transfer or user interaction, thereby saving the integrity of the samples, analysis time, supplies, and man hours. The robust and multi-functional SPE device, greatly reduces analysis time and eliminates valuable Trace Fiber losses that otherwise occur due to sample transfer from one analytical device to another.

rap.ID has implemented the two following complementary procedures: Raman Spectroscopy and Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) to characterize particles for over ten years. This cutting-edge device, introduced in 2009, simply combines the two aforementioned complementary laser based procedures into one device for heightened ease, speed, and precision. LIBS predominantly detects the elemental distribution of particles and therefore the technique is now named metal.ID.

The advantages of this cutting-edge product are more and more apparent as users implement it's functions to challenging applications such as criminal investigations or so-called "industrial damage and contamination analysis" which require rapid identification of possible polluters as small as one hundredth of a mm. The applications of the SPE raman.ID + metal.ID range a wide variety of industries. For example, the SPE has been recently applied in automotive industry for a well known automotive company to launch their pilot project designed to assess the technical cleanliness of auto parts. This very device is also currently at use in a leading pharmaceutical company in order to detect and control foreign particles in injectable drug manufacturing.

Information found during SPE analysis can prove substantially beneficial as in the case of the following customer. A pre-filled syringe manufacturer, using the metal.ID + raman.ID unit , was able to trace the source of glass particles in their sample to the "process pump" as opposed to the "syringe wall" of their parenteral sample within a few hours. The client had already been forced to take 5 batches of product off the market in Japan due to foreign particles. Without the rap.ID investigation, this pharmaceutical company would have incurred milllions of dollars in losses, however, the information found during analysis proved that the foreign particles were attributed to a bottling plant manufacturing the "process pumps," and therefore the customer was not at fault and did not have to pay the charges."SPE technology has allowed our clients to avoid millions of dollars in losses and has proved it's reliability and importance in any foreign particle or cleanliness application,"said Dr. Oliver Valet, Managing Director of rap.ID Particle Systems GmbH Berlin.

Quelle: rap.ID Particle Systems GmbH