Flow Imaging Microscopy Blog

The University of New England and the University of Maine School of Law announced that they are offering a combined fast-track Marine Sciences Law Degree to be completed in only 6 years. 

A client in the biopharmaceutical market recently learned how the FlowCam is perfectly suited to visualize translucent plastic particles that may enter into their production process. They were frustrated with traditional microscopy that was not effective at visualizing microparticles. They turned to the FlowCam to troubleshoot their manufacturing process and were able to compare old and new data sets allowing for continuous improvement.

Making it Work in Maine. Chief Executive Magazine recently interviewed Kent Peterson on how a small manufacturing company can thrive in Maine through innovation, continuous improvement and teamwork.

Read the article here and see what it takes for a small Maine company to be successful on a global basis.

The uniformity of a printer toner particle affects the distribution of charge the particle holds and as a result can affect image quality of the printed materials. 

Ensure Safe Drinking Water

Climate conditions are conducive to both harmful algae blooms (HABs) as well as taste and odor events in drinking water with increasing frequency and intensity. As a result, EPA regulations are moving toward requiring cyanobacteria monitoring. Proactive drinking water agencies are seeking a streamlined approach to monitor cyanobacteria and nuisance algae. Unfortunately, there is no single method that answers all the fundamental questions needed to make treatment decisions and ensure a safe water supply:

Flow Imaging Microscopes provide the in-depth characterization of particles in protein therapeutics as recommended by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). When evaluating instrumentation in this area, it is important to consider and compare these five important features.

The FlowCam continues to be an important instrument in biopharmaceutical research. The ability to image and characterize morphological features of particulate in parenteral formulations is an important aspect of ensuring quality and safety in injectable drug products.

Today’s drug manufacturers are under increasing pressure to understand the particulate composition of their drugs, and to reduce and control particulate in their formulations. To reduce and control particulate matter, manufacturers must first understand its source. Traditionally, particle analysis has been accomplished via light obscuration (LO) and membrane microscopy. While having been the accepted analytical standard methods for particulate composition as outlined by USP <788>, experts have deemed them to be insufficient.

National Institute of Standards and Technology protein standard imaged by the FlowCam. Proteins and non-proteinaceous particles were captured by the FlowCam. 

Biopharmaceutical manufacturers strive to ensure patient safety, avoid recalls and protect company reputations. Identifying subvisible particles is an important step in preventing recalls of parenterals. One aspect of product safety is defined in the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) 788 guidelines for particle sizing.  This was designed to control for particles capable of causing capillary occlusion, and therefore focuses on particles larger than 10 µm and 25 µm. As such, no characterization is required for particles below 10 µm. 

Launched in late 2017, the FlowCam^® Nano has garnered several awards and recognitions for breakthrough innovation in laboratory science during its first year on the market. As the only particle analyzer capable of simultaneously counting, characterizing and producing high-resolution digital images of nanoparticles in liquid samples, the FlowCam Nano fills a gap in data procurement and analysis that no other instrument provides.