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New products and services
NEWS UPDATE
Biosensors & Bioelectronics Vol. 9 No. 8 (1994)
New Products and Services In this international update of new products and services we report on developments for use in water monitoring, technology for stabilizing the biological component of a biosensor, and help meeting the increasing demands of European Union Directives .
New water-monitoring sensor array
Siemens Plessey Controls Ltd . is heading up a consortium in the UK to produce a Chemical Environmental Sensor Array (CENSAR), a multi-analyte, thick-film, sensor array for water-quality monitoring . It is expected that this device will be launched in 1995 . The first CENSAR devices are solid-state sensors deposited on an aluminium substrate . They measure temperature, conductivity, pH, redox and dissolved oxygen . Future arrays will also feature sensors for ammonia, chloride and metals such as Cu, Hg, Pb, Zn, Cd and Ag . These devices are expected to offer significant cost savings over conventional approaches to water-quality monitoring, particularly as the signal-processing and data-transmission electronics will be integrated on the array. The consortium developing the devices is supported by the UK government LINK research-funding scheme and includes the University of Southampton, the National Rivers Authority, the Drinking Water Inspectorate, the Water Research Centre and Unilever . Possible applications for the technology include portable and fixed water-quality monitoring instruments for use by the water, environmental, medical, chemical, food and process industries . Contact: Nigel Thomas, Environmental Systems, Sopers Lane, Poole, Dorset BH17 7ER, UK. Tel: [44] (0) 202 782509. Fax: [44] (0) 202 782335.
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New BOD Biosensor System
New BOD biosensor from Dr. Lange
Conventional technology for assessing the amount of biodegradable substances in water takes five days, is expensive to perform and is subject to a high degree of fluctuation . A new BOD Biosensor system has been developed to provide a fast accurate way of measuring the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) of waste water . The new system produces a measured value in as little as two minutes . It is precise, with reproducibility for the standard at about 5% . The system is easy to use and just requires the organisms, Rhodococcus erythropolis and Issatchenkia orientalis, stored within the biosensor to be brought into contact with the water sample . If the sample contains readily biodegradable substances, then the respiratory activity of the organisms, and therefore their
Biosensors & Bioelectronics Vol . 9 No. 8 (1994)
oxygen consumption, immediately increases . Even in unfiltered samples, this effect is quickly and reproducibly detected and calculations are immediately made in mg/l . The system features automatic sampling and a stirred measuring chamber . The immobilized microorganisms are stable for at least 6 months at between 4 and 7°C . It is claimed that the system's functional stability runs to at least 30 days under normal conditions. Applications for the biosensor system include checking and monitoring of sewage treatment plant outflows ; optimization of sewage treatment plant control; testing sewage treatment plant efficiency after renovation, new building ; self-monitoring in industry ; screening for standard analyses such as DIN ; and research e .g . the degradation of chemicals . Contact : Gerd Probst, Dr Bruno Lange GmbH, Willstatterstr 11, D-4000 Dusseldorf 11, Germany. Tel: [49] 2115288 213. Fax: [49] 211 5288 231 . Robin Norman, Dr. Bruno Lange (UK) Ltd., Argent House, Frimley Road, Camberley, Surrey GUI 5 2PP, UK. Tel: [44] (0) 276 677233. Fax: [44] (0) 276 677307. "Biosensors & Bloelectronics" will publish in the issue a special Product Report dealing with this novel microbial sensor.
From 1 January 1995, every patient-connected medical device sold in the European Union will have to carry the CE mark to show it meets the safety Directive . Contact : Eric Waters, Sira Certification Service, Saighton Lane, Saighton, Chester CH3 6EG, UK. Tel [44] (0) 244 336885 . Fax [44] (0) 244 332003.
Stabilization of products in the dry state Certain plants and animals are able to withstand periods of drought in the deserts of the world . The integrity of the structural and metabolic molecules in these organisms is preserved using a process based upon the characteristics of a simple sugar, trehalose . Trehalose has a unique combination of characteristics :
•
Trehalose can form hydrogen bonds with molecular surfaces .
•
Trehalose can be dried as a transparent glass .
•
Trehalose is extremely inert - non-reactive and non-hygroscopic .
•
Trehalose inhibits the clumping and aggregation of molecules and particles .
•
Trehalose accelerates the dissolution of dried molecules .
•
Trehalose is non-toxic .
Help meeting new European safety laws Sira Certification Service (SCS) has teamed up with the UK's first accredited hospital-based medical-devices testing laboratory to offer manufacturers of all types of medical equipment "one-stop shopping" for the new CE safety mark demanded by the European Medical Devices Directive . The University of Sheffield's Institute of Biomedical Equipment Evaluation and Services (IBEES) at Lodge Moor Hospital will be carrying out type-testing of both new and established equipment to new international safety standards ; while SCS, an independent centre for product conformity certification, will be issuing the CE marks .
Quadrant Holdings Cambridge Ltd., UK, has developed Q-T4 stabilization technology based upon trehalose . The technology is being developed for use in the pharmaceutical industry, but is already used commercially in medical diagnostics, life science research reagents and blood typing kits . Recently Quadrant has expanded its US operations by establishing a wholly owned subsidiary, Quadrant USA Inc ., based in Chicago . Contact: Greg Ogden, Quadrant Holdings, Maxis Lane, Trumpington, Cambridge CB2 2SY, UK. Tel: [44] (0) 223 845779. Fax: [441 (0) 223 842614.
xui
Biosensors & Bioelectronics Vol. 9 No. 8 (1994)
New Products and Services In this international update of new products and services we report on developments for use in water monitoring, technology for stabilizing the biological component of a biosensor, and help meeting the increasing demands of European Union Directives .
New water-monitoring sensor array
Siemens Plessey Controls Ltd . is heading up a consortium in the UK to produce a Chemical Environmental Sensor Array (CENSAR), a multi-analyte, thick-film, sensor array for water-quality monitoring . It is expected that this device will be launched in 1995 . The first CENSAR devices are solid-state sensors deposited on an aluminium substrate . They measure temperature, conductivity, pH, redox and dissolved oxygen . Future arrays will also feature sensors for ammonia, chloride and metals such as Cu, Hg, Pb, Zn, Cd and Ag . These devices are expected to offer significant cost savings over conventional approaches to water-quality monitoring, particularly as the signal-processing and data-transmission electronics will be integrated on the array. The consortium developing the devices is supported by the UK government LINK research-funding scheme and includes the University of Southampton, the National Rivers Authority, the Drinking Water Inspectorate, the Water Research Centre and Unilever . Possible applications for the technology include portable and fixed water-quality monitoring instruments for use by the water, environmental, medical, chemical, food and process industries . Contact: Nigel Thomas, Environmental Systems, Sopers Lane, Poole, Dorset BH17 7ER, UK. Tel: [44] (0) 202 782509. Fax: [44] (0) 202 782335.
xii
New BOD Biosensor System
New BOD biosensor from Dr. Lange
Conventional technology for assessing the amount of biodegradable substances in water takes five days, is expensive to perform and is subject to a high degree of fluctuation . A new BOD Biosensor system has been developed to provide a fast accurate way of measuring the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) of waste water . The new system produces a measured value in as little as two minutes . It is precise, with reproducibility for the standard at about 5% . The system is easy to use and just requires the organisms, Rhodococcus erythropolis and Issatchenkia orientalis, stored within the biosensor to be brought into contact with the water sample . If the sample contains readily biodegradable substances, then the respiratory activity of the organisms, and therefore their
Biosensors & Bioelectronics Vol . 9 No. 8 (1994)
oxygen consumption, immediately increases . Even in unfiltered samples, this effect is quickly and reproducibly detected and calculations are immediately made in mg/l . The system features automatic sampling and a stirred measuring chamber . The immobilized microorganisms are stable for at least 6 months at between 4 and 7°C . It is claimed that the system's functional stability runs to at least 30 days under normal conditions. Applications for the biosensor system include checking and monitoring of sewage treatment plant outflows ; optimization of sewage treatment plant control; testing sewage treatment plant efficiency after renovation, new building ; self-monitoring in industry ; screening for standard analyses such as DIN ; and research e .g . the degradation of chemicals . Contact : Gerd Probst, Dr Bruno Lange GmbH, Willstatterstr 11, D-4000 Dusseldorf 11, Germany. Tel: [49] 2115288 213. Fax: [49] 211 5288 231 . Robin Norman, Dr. Bruno Lange (UK) Ltd., Argent House, Frimley Road, Camberley, Surrey GUI 5 2PP, UK. Tel: [44] (0) 276 677233. Fax: [44] (0) 276 677307. "Biosensors & Bloelectronics" will publish in the issue a special Product Report dealing with this novel microbial sensor.
From 1 January 1995, every patient-connected medical device sold in the European Union will have to carry the CE mark to show it meets the safety Directive . Contact : Eric Waters, Sira Certification Service, Saighton Lane, Saighton, Chester CH3 6EG, UK. Tel [44] (0) 244 336885 . Fax [44] (0) 244 332003.
Stabilization of products in the dry state Certain plants and animals are able to withstand periods of drought in the deserts of the world . The integrity of the structural and metabolic molecules in these organisms is preserved using a process based upon the characteristics of a simple sugar, trehalose . Trehalose has a unique combination of characteristics :
•
Trehalose can form hydrogen bonds with molecular surfaces .
•
Trehalose can be dried as a transparent glass .
•
Trehalose is extremely inert - non-reactive and non-hygroscopic .
•
Trehalose inhibits the clumping and aggregation of molecules and particles .
•
Trehalose accelerates the dissolution of dried molecules .
•
Trehalose is non-toxic .
Help meeting new European safety laws Sira Certification Service (SCS) has teamed up with the UK's first accredited hospital-based medical-devices testing laboratory to offer manufacturers of all types of medical equipment "one-stop shopping" for the new CE safety mark demanded by the European Medical Devices Directive . The University of Sheffield's Institute of Biomedical Equipment Evaluation and Services (IBEES) at Lodge Moor Hospital will be carrying out type-testing of both new and established equipment to new international safety standards ; while SCS, an independent centre for product conformity certification, will be issuing the CE marks .
Quadrant Holdings Cambridge Ltd., UK, has developed Q-T4 stabilization technology based upon trehalose . The technology is being developed for use in the pharmaceutical industry, but is already used commercially in medical diagnostics, life science research reagents and blood typing kits . Recently Quadrant has expanded its US operations by establishing a wholly owned subsidiary, Quadrant USA Inc ., based in Chicago . Contact: Greg Ogden, Quadrant Holdings, Maxis Lane, Trumpington, Cambridge CB2 2SY, UK. Tel: [44] (0) 223 845779. Fax: [441 (0) 223 842614.
xui