Materials characterization company Malvern Instruments (Worcs, UK) and Kaiser Optical Systems (Ann Arbor, MI), a leading supplier of Raman analyzers and components for spectroscopy, have announced a development collaboration that will enhance the product portfolios of both companies. As part of the process of bringing the resulting new products to market, both companies will be seeking the involvement of potential customers at the final stages of product development and for beta evaluations later this year.

Malvern Instruments, a world-class supplier of systems for characterizing particulate materials, will integrate Kaiser RamanRxn System analyzers and probes into its Morphologi platform. The Morphologi’s high-performance automated image analysis will then intelligently target and guide the collection of Raman data on a range of particulate and solid materials. Used in conjunction with ISys, Malvern’s powerful chemical imaging software, this approach has many and varied applications. The initial focus will be on pharmaceutical, life science and forensic applications. Here sophisticated sample and particle handling, automated image recognition, and chemical characterization combine to move Raman spectroscopy to a new level of intelligence and automation.

These patent pending combinations will, for the first time, enable this intelligent, targeted, and statistically robust approach to performing Raman microscopy on a variety of spatially and chemically complex samples.

“We are very excited by the prospects for this collaboration which builds on the strengths of both organizations,” said Paul Walker, managing director of Malvern Instruments. “It will significantly enhance Malvern’s capabilities to solve the material characterization problems of its customers in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries.”

Kaiser Optical Systems is a world leader in the manufacture and supply of holographic optics and Raman spectroscopy platforms for a variety of laboratory and industrial process applications. As a direct result of this collaboration, the company will distribute an exclusive version of Malvern’s ISys data processing and analysis software, and a new system control software platform specifically developed for its Raman Microprobe and PhAT-enabled Raman WorkStation range.

“The addition of Malvern’s  software to our Raman WorkStation offers our customers significantly improved performance,” said Harry Owen, director of business development at Kaiser. “Raman spectroscopy applications such as chemical mapping, wellplate analysis, and tablet analysis will benefit from the combination of our PhAT technology and the powerful imaging capability offered by Malvern’s ISys data processing and analysis software.”

For more information about the Malvern and Kaiser Optical Systems ranges, visit
www.malvern.com/LabEng/products/morphologi/raman.htm and www.kosi.com.