John Chasse is the Managing Editor of Spectroscopy and LCGC. Direct correspondence to: jchasse@mjhlifesciences.com
Standardizing Solutions to Enabling Platforming of Process Analytical Technology (PAT) Deployments
April 24th 2023Gary McGeorge, Scientific Director at Bristol-Myers Squibb, spoke to us of the benefits and challenges associated with establishment of consistent resolutions while facilitating the steps associated with the implementation of process analytical technology (PAT).
Analysis of the Inorganic Content of Milk via Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy
March 6th 2023Although milk is considered among the most complete and nutrition-rich natural foods, the concentration of vitamins and minerals in milk can vary depending on a variety of circumstances. Stelios Couris of the University of Patras and the Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas (Patras, Greece) has been studying the inorganic elemental composition of a variety of milk samples using LIBS and spoke to Spectroscopy about this research.
Differentiating Glycans by Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy
February 20th 2023Glycoproteins are becoming popular in the pharmaceutical industry, prompting the need for an effective spectroscopic technique that can differentiate them. SERS is one such technique ideal for glycan analysis for several key reasons, which are discussed here.
Raman Spectroscopy and Machine Learning-Based Optical Probe for Tuberculosis Diagnosis via Sputum
November 2nd 2022In the treatment of tuberculosis (TB), a contagious disease that causes 1.5 million deaths per year globally, early diagnosis is critical in order to control its spread. Unfortunately, standard tuberculosis diagnostic tests, such as sputum culture, can take days to weeks to yield results. In a recent paper, Ubaid Ullah of the Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering in Pakistan and his colleagues demonstrate a quick, portable, easy-to-use, and non-invasive optical sensor based on sputum samples for tuberculosis detection using Raman spectroscopy to detect TB in a patient’s sputum supernatant. Ullah spoke to Spectroscopy about this sensor and its development.
A Decade of Surface Enhanced Spatially Offset Raman Scattering (SESORS)
September 8th 2022Karen Faulds of the University of Strathclyde co-authored a paper where SESORS signals could be detected from nanotags at depths down to 48 mm for the first time using a handheld spatially offset Raman (SORS) instrument. She recently spoke to Spectroscopy about this and some of her other papers and the advances in the science that made them possible. Faulds is the 2022 recipient of the RSC Analytical Division Mid-Career Award. This interview is part of an ongoing series of interviews with the winners of awards that are presented at the annual SciX conference, which will be held this year from October 2 through October 7, in Covington, Kentucky.
Multiplexed Live-Cell Profiling with Raman Probes
July 7th 2022Wei Min, of the Department of Chemistry at Columbia University in New York City, and his associates recently published a paper outlining their devising a set of multiplexed Raman molecular probes with sharp and mutually resolvable Raman peaks to simultaneously quantify cell surface proteins, endocytosis activities, and metabolic dynamics of an individual live cell. Min, who recently spoke to us about this work, is the 2022 recipient of the Craver Award, presented annually at FACSS SciX to recognize the efforts of young professional spectroscopists that have made significant contributions in applied analytical vibrational spectroscopy.
Optical Detection of Defects during Laser Metal Deposition: Simulations and Experiment
June 23rd 2022Igor Gornushkin and colleagues at BAM Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing in Berlin, Germany studied the feasibility of using optical spectroscopy as a control method for laser metal deposition, and he recently spoke to us about this work. Gornushkin is the 2022 recipient of the Lester W. Strock Award from the New England Chapter of the Society for Applied Spectroscopy (SAS).
Diagnosis of Gulf War Illness Using Laser-Induced Spectra Acquired from Blood Samples
May 5th 2022Noureddine Melikechi of the Department of Physics and Applied Physics at the University of Massachusetts (Lowell, MA) saw an urgent need for the development of an untargeted and unbiased method to distinguish Gulf War illness (GWI) patients from non-GWI patients; he and his associates utilized laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) in their efforts to meet that need.
Chemometric Analysis on ATR-FT-IR Spectra of Spray Paint Samples for Forensic Purposes
April 1st 2022Spray paint is often used by vandals for creating graffiti, as well as for criminals to leave signs, messages, and blots to conceal the left traces at the scene of their efforts. Rajinder Singh and his colleagues in the Department of Forensic Science at Punjabi University (Punjab, India) have used attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FT-IR) spectroscopy for nondestructive analysis of 20 red spray paints of different manufacturers, which could possibly be encountered at a crime scene, particularly in case of vandalism. Singh spoke to Spectroscopy about the findings, and the paper that resulted from their efforts.
Rapid Detection and Quantification of Plant Innate Immunity Response Using Raman Spectroscopy
February 10th 2022As global food supplies and security have been challenged by water scarcity and climate variations, the expected increase in food demand will require a corresponding increase in crop productivity and disruptive improvements in agricultural production systems, including implementing strategies to mitigate the degradation of crop yield caused by plant diseases. Several groups have explored the use of Raman spectroscopy for rapid diagnosis of such diseases.
Determination of Elemental Impurities in a Nasal Spray Using ICP-MS
December 7th 2021A tutorial and spreadsheet for the validation and bottom-up uncertainty evaluation of quantifications performed by instrumental methods of analysis based on linear weighted calibrations were presented by Ricardo J.N. Bettencourt da Silva of the University of Lisbon in Lisbon, Portugal, and colleagues. This software tool was successfully applied to the determination of the mass concentration of Cd, Pb, As, Hg, Co, V, and Ni in a nasal spray by ICP-MS after samples dilution and acidification. Bettencourt da Silva spoke to Spectroscopy about applying this software tool and the implications for a better understanding of quantitative analytical results.
Advances in Table-Top Extreme Ultraviolet Second Harmonic Generation
November 2nd 2021The limited availability of table-top extreme ultraviolet (XUV) sources with adequate fluxes and coherence properties has resulted in a lack of nonlinear XUV and X-ray spectroscopies to free-election lasers (FELs). Michael Zuerch of the Department of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, along with colleagues from ten laboratories across three countries, has conducted the first extreme ultraviolet second harmonic generation (XUV-SHG) experiment above the Ti M edge (32.6 eV), also representing the first table-top demonstration of SHG at photon energies beyond the UV regime.
Phonon Imaging in 3D with a Fiber Probe
September 10th 2021Salvatore La Cavera III and his colleagues in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Nottingham, in Nottingham, United Kingdom have developed a novel measurement system consisting of two ultrafast lasers that excite and detect high-frequency ultrasound from a nano-transducer fabricated onto the tip of a single-mode optical fiber.
Developing Electrochemical and Optical Sensors to Measure Analytes in Physiological Samples
September 2nd 2021Mark Meyerhoff has been exploring chemical sensors for biomedical applications. Because of his work, Meyerhoff has been awarded the 2021 ANACHEM award. Meyerhoff spoke to us about his work, his career, and what being presented this award at this fall’s SciX event means to him.
Recording the Raman Spectrum of a Single Molecule
September 2nd 2021Analytical chemists are continually striving to advance techniques to make it possible to observe and measure matter and processes at smaller and smaller scales. Professor Vartkess Ara Apkarian and his team at the University of California, Irvine have made a significant breakthrough in this quest: They have recorded the Raman spectrum of a single azobenzene thiol molecule. The approach, which breaks common tenets about surface-enhanced Raman scattering/spectroscopy (SERS) and tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS), involved imaging an isolated azobenzene thiol molecule on an atomically flat gold surface, then picking it up and recording its Raman spectrum using an electrochemically etched silver tip, in an ultrahigh vacuum cryogenic scanning tunneling microscope. For the resulting paper detailing the effort [1], Apkarian and his associates are the 2021 recipients of the William F. Meggers Award, given annually by the Society for Applied Spectroscopy to the authors of the outstanding paper appearing in the journal Applied Spectroscopy. We spoke to Apkarian about this research, and what being awarded this honor means to him and his team. This interview is part of an ongoing series with the winners of awards that are presented at the annual SciX conference. The award will be presented to Apkarian at this fall’s event, which will be held in person in Providence, Rhode Island, September 28–October 1.
Investigating Lanthanide Deposition Patterns in Tissue Using LA-ICP-MS Imaging
September 1st 2021Uwe Karst of the University of Münster in Germany explains the use of laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) imaging to provide spatially resolved quantification of trace elements in biological samples.
Advancing Metal-Based Anticancer Drugs with ICP-MS and Imaging MS Techniques
August 9th 2021Metallomics approaches based on mass spectrometry have become increasingly important in the support of developing metal-based anticancer drugs. This area is a key focus for Gunda Koellensperger and her colleagues at the University of Vienna (Austria) and they recently published an article discussing this state-of-the-art instrumentation, as well as highlighting recent analytical advances, focusing especially on the latest developments in inductively coupled plasma-–mass spectrometry (ICP-MS).
Quantitative Methods for Multielemental Analysis in Low-Volume Biofluids
February 1st 2021In precious samples, effective methods for multielemental analysis could provide a deeper understanding of the essential role of elements as cofactors in biological and pathological processes. Tobias Konz of Nestlé Research explains.
Quantitative Methods for Multielemental Analysis in Low Volume Biofluids
September 21st 2020Tobias Konz of Nestlé Research, Lausanne, Switzerland and various associates have developed and validated what they describe as a reliable, robust, and easy-to-implement quantitative method for multielemental analysis of low-volume samples. The ICP-MS-based method comprises the analysis of 20 elements (Mg, P, S, K, Ca, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Cu, Zn, Se, Br, Rb, Sr, Mo, I, Cs, and Ba) in 10 μL of serum and 12 elements (Mg, S, Mn, Fe, Co, Cu, Zn Se, Br, Rb, Mo, and Cs) in less than 250,000 cells, and involved the analysis of elemental profiles of serum and sorted immune T cells derived from naıv̈e and tumor-bearing mice. The results indicate a tumor systemic effect on the elemental profiles of both serum and T cells. Konz and his colleagues believe their approach highlights promising applications of multielemental analysis in precious samples such as rare cell populations or limited volumes of biofluids that could provide a deeper understanding of the essential role of elements as cofactors in biological and pathological processes. Konz spoke to us about this work.