CHROMATOGRAPHY
Like the automotive sector, chromatography is improving due to sensor technology
automates specific processes to an optimal degree, the former can be more flexible. Robotic systems that mimic a typical manual process can be adapted to perform different steps to complete another process in a similar automated fashion. One key driver of increased automation is, of course, to reduce costs and manual workload. However, due to advances in sensor technology, workflows can be monitored online and thus optimised to increase not only their speed and reproducibility, but also their stability and safety.
Digital sensor technologies offer reliable automation
then had to be loaded into the system, one by one, at just the right time. Tis required the operator to be dedicated to the system during the entire process. Even after the experiments were finished, the work continued in the form of number crunching of the experimental results. Te potential for optimisation and automation was huge.
A NEW STATE OF THE ART Current systems are automated to much higher degrees and offer full workflow integrations ranging from sample preparation to data analysis and visualisation. Automation systems can differ in their design and range from systems to replicate and emulate manual methods to closed systems that do part of the sample preparation, for example in a benchtop system. Whereas the latter
VERSATILE IMPACT Tis is, however, only the beginning. Te high value of the test results of chromatography workflows and analytical instruments in general will cause their success to do nothing but increase. Current fields of interest include the food and beverage industry, where the results give insights into the safety of our nutrition. Given the ever-increasing demand for highly optimised and high-yield food production processes, every production batch will reach an ever-increasing number of consumers. Teir health and safety thus depend on the safety and stability of the production processes. Pharmaceutical products aim to help and heal the sick population, a group whose immune system is in many cases already compromised. For these patients in particular, the safety, security and reliability of controlled production processes is key. Analytical instruments and workflows are already used to control for these safety aspects and, with newer and more complex treatments becoming available, the demand for such workflows to be efficiently and seamlessly integrated into the production processes will increase further. Already at the development stage of vaccines, for example, chromatography
systems help identify the specific antibodies involved in fighting different diseases and thus enable fast production of specific compounds to combat the spread of potentially life-threatening epidemics. In forensic science, chromatography and analytical systems are used to yield information to solve criminal cases. Te analysis can cover natural and synthetic drugs and toxicological samples, but also the analysis of the debris of fires and explosions. Additional applications analyse paints and pigment molecules to link individuals to places or identify tell-tale signs of food fraud, counterfeit alcohol and adulterated fragrances.
HIDDEN CHAMPIONS With the prevalence of such analytical systems only increasing in industry and research, the demand for (and development of) automated and stable processes for completing the workflows around the actual analysis will also increase. A large portion of these developments
are enabled through smart sensor solutions. Sensirion’s sensor products enable dispense validation, process control and optimisation, and failure mode detection in myriad applications. Whether an application requires the monitoring of environmental factors, such as humidity and temperature, CO2
concentration
or particulate matter, or the precise measurement and control of liquid and gas flows, Sensirion’s fully calibrated and digital sensor technologies offer a great and reliable basis for process and workflow automation and control.
Dr Moritz Kneipp is with Sensirion.
www.sensirion.com
www.scientistlive.com 31
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