ELECTRO OPTICS 219X288 21/1/09 17:02 Page 1
12 biophotonics
Expert solutions for Microscopy
Beating food contamination take a week using conventional methods to run
Biophotonics is making major inroads into the the tests to detect contamination. Bruker have
food sciences and testing for food safety. Recent developed a benchtop system employing a 337nm
worldwide food scares over milk and chocolate nitrogen laser, called the Biotyper, that is designed
underline both the risk to health and the specifically for this type of application.
economic damage that poor food safety can pose, Unlike conventional testing, Bruker’s BioTyper
especially in a globalised food market. does not require any elaborate preparation. A
Food analysts need to be able to detect a wider sample is simply placed straight in the system,
range of potential contaminants in less time, at which provides an immediate analysis of
higher volume, and with more accuracy. As a what proteins are present within the food. By
result, biophotonic testing is making inroads, moving from conventional chemical analysis to
with mass and near-infrared spectroscopy a biophotonic application, manufacturers can
increasingly being adopted. test food during production and gain immediate
A number of vendors have produced laser- feedback to its safety.
based food testing systems recently, including Biophotonics is creating breakthrough
Bruker, Applied Biosystems, Agilent, Ocean applications in a wide range of sciences. With
Optics, Andor and Jobin Yvon Horiba. Detecting protein and genome-based sciences extending
bacteria in chocolate is a major challenge. their reach across medicine, pharmaceuticals,
Cadbury is not alone in having to recall chocolate the life sciences, forensics, agriculture and the
recently – almost all the major manufacturers food sciences, biophotonics looks like continuing
have had to. Yet with conventional testing tools, its rapid growth into a hundred-billion dollar
detecting bacteria in chocolate is difficult. It can industry by the end of the decade.
Look to the experts in Scientific Imaging
True-CW ultraviolet lasers
At Hamamatsu, we offer an extensive range of scientific imaging technologies
featuring excellent performance and high sensitivity to provide the optimum
Optically pumped semiconductor laser cells can potentially damage the DNA. In
solution for demanding microscopy applications. We provide flexible, complete
(OPSL) technology is now a dominant addition, it can cause non-linear optical
systems for applications from routine fluorescence and luminescence
technology in bioinstrumentation effects and damage in the fibre optic to photon counting.
applications, because both the output delivery systems. To avoid this, we have
power and wavelength are freely scalable developed a true-CW ultraviolet laser, based
Whether you are looking for a general purpose, flexible camera for routine
ORCA-R2 Low Noise, Next Generation,
throughout the visible. But, in the areas of on its OPSL technology that produces tens
lab use or an ultra-fast, high sensitivity camera for extremely low light level
Scientific Digital CCD Camera
flow cytometry and confocal microscopy, of milliwatts at 355nm.’
it is the OPSL’s ability to produce true-CW Why not use the tried and tested
imaging, Hamamatsu can provide you with expert advice to select the best
• Rapid readout – 16.2 frames/s at full resolution
• 16 bit readout
ultraviolet output in a low-noise yet cost- frequency-tripled DPSS laser to produce
solution for your application.
• Dual cooling - forced air or water
effective platform that is now proving to be 355nm for this market? Schulze explains:
important. ‘Because it depends on peak power,
An example of this type of laser is the frequency-tripling is much more efficient
recently-launched Genesis 355 series and easier to implement with pulsed lasers
from Coherent, developed and tested in rather than CW designs. That’s why mode-
close-cooperation with bioinstrumentation locked DPSS lasers have been used for
suppliers. Coherent’s Matthias Schulze, the bioinstrumentation in spite of their obvious
company’s director of marketing for OEM peak power drawbacks. A CW DPSS laser
components and instrumentation, explains: can operate at 355nm using intra-cavity
‘A growing number of bioinstrumentation frequency tripling, but you have to address
applications require fluorescence excitation the notorious “green noise” problem. This
by an ultraviolet laser source. Standout is noise caused by rapid power fluctuations
examples are flow cytometry for embryo between different cavity modes, which
selection and cell sorting, as well as newer affects the coherent frequency mixing/
applications in confocal microscopy. Some doubling processes. While green noise
C9100-13/-14 ImagEM Back-Thinned ORCA-03G High Resolution
of these applications have used mode- can be eliminated by using a stabilised
Electron Multiplier CCD Camera Digital CCD camera
locked solid state lasers with output at single-mode cavity, OEM bioinstrumentation
• Short exposures and fast frame rates • High resolution of 1.37 million pixels
355nm. However, these quasi-CW lasers applications demand a lower-cost, simpler
• Wide dynamic range in both normal-CCD and EM-CCD readout modes • High sensitivity in VIS-NIR region
are not always an optimum solution for solution. Fortunately, because an OPSL
• Highly stabilised gain and minimal dark noise • Wide dynamic range
bioinstrumentation applications, because essentially has a zero upper state lifetime,
• Photon imaging mode • Economical price and low noise
of their high peak power; for example, a there is no stored gain and the laser mode-
100mW laser with a pulse duration of 10ps structure is therefore completely stable. This
can generate peak powers of more than eliminates green noise without resorting to
100W. Focusing this high power into live a stabilised single-mode design.’
www.sales.hamamatsu.com Freephone: Europe 00 800 800 800 88, USA 1-800 524 0504
EOfeb09 pp10-13 Biophotonics.indd 12 17/2/09 16:43:45
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