B&W Tek breaks into handheld Raman sector

US instrumentation company B&W Tek have launched a handheld Raman spectrometer - called the NanoRam - which can be used for identifying and verifying pharmaceutical raw materials and finished dosage forms and fighting counterfeits.

The unit (pictured) is based on open systems architecture and is designed for use by non-specialists, with a one-handed, point-and-shoot operation that lends itself to screening of materials coming into the manufacturing facility as well as verification of drug products in the field.

"Our initial goal for the NanoRam is to provide a solution to pharmaceutical customers who need to deploy instruments in volume among different sites, to efficiently analyse active pharmaceutical ingredients, excipients, and drug products as part of a LEAN manufacturing and quality process," said B&W Tek in a statement.

Handheld Raman instruments are finding greater use in counterfeit detection, with notable instruments on the market including Thermo Scientific's TruScan and Bay Spec's First Guard and Xantus ranges. Their uptake has been encouraged by benefits such as easy sampling, on-the-spot analysis, a wide range of compatible substances and the ability to carry out both qualitative and quantitative analysis.

B&W Tek said that it expects the NanoRam launch "to accelerate the adoption of handheld Raman for use in identifying counterfeit drugs, mitigating the multi-billion dollar impact on revenues for global pharmaceutical companies."

"The NanoRam allows rapid development of standardised and validated methods to facilitate 100 per cent inspection for purity and quality, as mandated by government regulators within operational guidelines provided by US and international pharmacopeia," said the company.

Raman spectral libraries are available for pharmaceutical materials based on samples certified by the US Pharmacopeia (USP) and new spectra can be easily generated and added to existing libraries. Moreover, Raman spectral libraries that have been created on other instruments can be transferred to the NanoRam platform using a library conversion utility.

The NanoRam is equipped with B&W Tek's proprietary CleanLaze technology for "exceptional laser stabilisation and narrow linewidth," said the firm. The unit weighs less than 1.1 kg, and boasts a large OLED display, and low power consumption, as well as a range of sampling accessories for gels, liquids, powders and solids.

"The NanoRam represents a new generation of small handheld tools for material identification and verification," said Dr. Mike Kayat, vice president of sales and marketing for B&W Tek.

"Rapid validation and deployment within cGMP facilities is made possible by the combination of near-laboratory grade Raman spectral analysis with a high performance PC-based environment that can communicate with ERP systems, together with validated methods and libraries within an open systems architecture."