Stories & Features

IDEX Health & Science Semrock optical filters are on NASA’s new Perseverance rover that will try to definitively answer whether life ever existed on Mars. Working with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), our optical filter team developed filters for the SHERLOC instrument, which will enable the rover to identify, collect and store rock and soil samples from Mars.
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Until there is a vaccine or anti-viral medications for COVID-19, the treatment for hospitalized patients is to help alleviate their symptoms. One of the most severe and potentially life threatening symptoms of the COVID-19 virus is known as the cytokine release syndrome, or “cytokine storm.” This is when an infected patient’s immune system is induced to go into overdrive to attack the viral infection. The immune system can become uncontrolled and lead to multiple organ failure, which can be fatal.
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There are three basic types of Raman instrumentation. Raman microscopes, also called micro-Raman spectrophotometers, are larger-scale laboratory analytical instruments for making fast, high-accuracy Raman measurements on very small, specific sample areas. Traditional laboratory Raman spectrometers are primarily used for R&D applications. They range from “home-built” to flexible commercial systems that offer a variety of laser sources, means for holding solid and liquid samples, and different filter and spectrometer types. Finally, a rapidly emerging class of Raman instrumentation is the Raman micro-probe analyzer. These complete, compact, and often portable systems are ideal for use in the field or in tight manufacturing and process environments. They utilize a remote probe tip that contains optical filters and lenses, connected to the main unit via optical fiber.
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A good lab practice tip is to make the replacement of your filters or frits a part of your system’s preventative maintenance routine. Typically maintenance occurs every six months to one year. There will be times when you will need to change your filter or frit in addition to the regularly-scheduled changes.
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IDEX Health & Science works with many diagnostic companies around the world who are creating new PCR assays and instrument platforms to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
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If you work with multiphoton microscopy, three–photon imaging allows you to image even deeper into tissues with improved contrast.
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