Bioreactor Monitoring Using Non-Invasive Raman Spectroscopy

Raman spectroscopy is a non-destructive, non-invasive technique that is an excellent alternative to traditional process-monitoring methods that require sampling. Raman provides real-time information on the state of the bioreactor. In our previous blog post – St. Patrick’s Day at Beer&W Tek! we demonstrated how the fermentation process is monitored using an i-Raman EX, a 1064-nm laser laboratory instrument, with RIS101 Sapphire Ball Immersion Shaft. In this post, we take the next step of performing non-invasive, stand-off monitoring of the brewing process with a RTS202 Stand-off lens (Figure 1). This allows us to gather real-time information on the state of the bioreactor without the risk of disruption or contamination. Continue reading

Steeping into the World of Tea with Raman

Raman spectroscopy is a promising technique in food science due to its ability to provide rapid and non-destructive analysis of samples. For instance, we have previously explored the Raman spectra of olive oils using the B&W Tek i-Raman® Plus-785 system (Fast Ingredient Analysis of Edible Oils Using a Portable Raman Spectrometer). Regular Raman spectroscopy can be applied to investigate properties of traditional/herbal tea, and when Raman is coupled to SERS technology it can be used to detect trace pesticides (ug level) on tea leaves (Trace Detection of Paraquant in Tea Leaves)… Continue reading

Panning for Gemstones: The Raman Rush

Fall is a season of harvest and festivals, which makes it an ideal time to get outside while the weather … Continue reading

Veggie burger or Beef burger? Let Raman tell you!

You may have heard of vegetarian-friendly foods like cauliflower burgers and the Impossible Burgers for example. Both are created to … Continue reading

Quantitative analysis of Milkfat content

Milk from cattle and other domestic livestock has been an important food source for humans for thousands of years. The … Continue reading

St. Patrick’s Day at Beer&W Tek!

HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY! St. Patrick’s Day (March 17th) has been popularized worldwide as a time to celebrate by wearing … Continue reading

International Day of Women and Girls in Science 2022

Friday, February 11th was International Day of Women and Girls in Science 2022.  This day was declared in 2015 as … Continue reading

Using Portable Raman Instrumentation to Make the Wintertime Safer

The winter season can be one of the most beautiful times of the year. Unfortunately, along with the freshly fallen … Continue reading

Using Raman to Choose the Ingredients for Santa’s Treats

Happy Holidays from Your Spectroscopy Partner! In the USA, putting out a plate of cookies and a glass of milk … Continue reading

1064 nm Raman Excitation of Fluorescent Pumpkin Seed Oil

Happy Halloween! Jack-O-Lanterns, pumpkins with ghoulish faces placed in front of homes, have been a symbol of Halloween for centuries1. Because … Continue reading

Raman Spectroscopy of Italian Cheeses

September is National Italian Cheese Month! Did you know that there are over 450 varieties of Italian cheeses?  The most … Continue reading

Raman Spectroscopy and Its Use in Monitoring Olive Oil Adulteration

June 1st is National Olive Day! To honor the occasion, we thought we would highlight some of the ways that … Continue reading

Celebrating Earth Day: Portable Raman Spectroscopy for a SERS-Based Screening of Freshwater Contamination

As we celebrate Earth Day 2021 we would like to focus on Raman studies done to protect our environment. There … Continue reading

Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy-Based Detection of SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies with a Portable Raman Spectrometer

In recent years, both portable Raman spectroscopy and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) have become crucial techniques in medical diagnostics and … Continue reading

The History of National Science Day

In India, February 28th is celebrated as National Science Day. India’s Ministry of Culture describes1 the purpose of National Science … Continue reading

Recipes with Raman

Many of us have spent more time in the kitchen in the past year than usual, (re)discovering our culinary skills … Continue reading

The Importance of Relative Intensity Correction of Raman Data

As portable Raman technology becomes more prevalent especially among pharmaceutical businesses and within defense and security fields, so too does … Continue reading

Direct Analysis of Tapestry Dyes with Raman Spectroscopy

Tapestry is very important to the history of woven textiles. Egyptian cave paintings of weavers date them back to 3000 … Continue reading

Raman vs SERS…What’s the Difference?

If you’ve ever had a conversation with a Raman spectroscopist about the feasibility of a low-concentration sensing application, chances are … Continue reading

Transmission Raman and Content Uniformity Testing

Content uniformity testing is a standard pharmaceutical test to ensure the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) content in solid dosage forms … Continue reading

STRam®: 1064 Making Waves

Raw pharmaceutical materials are frequently packaged within polyethylene bottles, or Kraft paper sacks in single or multiple layers. Properly identifying … Continue reading

Historic Stamps: Cracking down on counterfeits with Raman

Historical stamps are cultural heritage objects that provide an invaluable amount of historical information. Holding a high monetary value as … Continue reading

Portable Spectrometers for Raw Material ID

Portable spectrometers are designed for maximum ease-of-use for onsite materials analysis and testing. They have been adapted from a suite … Continue reading

Thin Film Analysis with B&W Tek

Modern engineering is increasingly concerned with device miniaturization and the exploitation of materials at smaller dimensions than ever. At the … Continue reading

Counterfeit Analysis: Which Spectroscopic Method Works Best?

Counterfeit analysis encompasses a broad range of tools used to distinguish adulterated substances from the genuine article. In border control … Continue reading

Key Principles of Carbon Analysis

Carbon (C) is one of the most ubiquitous elements ever discovered, forming a fundamental component of all living things and … Continue reading

Interview: Peter Muller Talks about Using the i-Raman Plus for Mineral Identification

Raman spectroscopy is growing in popularity as a tool for mineral identification due to its heightened sensitivity to chemical structures … Continue reading

Webcast – Quantitative At-Line Portable Raman for Process Control: Development, Validation, and Implementation with a Pharmaceutical Example

In this webinar, viewers will get an inside look at how portable Raman is being developed for at-line quantitation of nonionic surfactants in pharmaceutical formulations at Eli Lilly. Continue reading

Smithsonian App Note: Raman Analyzes Aviation Glass

These two research articles published by the Smithsonian Institution feature our MiniRam II portable Raman spectrometer. One article discusses the research of the co-evolution of plastics and early human flight, the second specifically explores the working distance when identifying plastics, particularly those of the early 20th century. Continue reading

Roundtable: PAT

This roundtable discussion, published by European Pharmaceutical Review, discusses PAT’s current and future role in pharmaceuticals. Continue reading

Raman Makes An Impact in Plastic Toy Safety, As Well As Security & PAT

This application note, published in Spectroscopy Asia, discusses how Raman quantitative and semi-quantitative analysis makes an impact in three different applications: Security, Plastic Toy Safety, and PAT (Process Analytical Technology). Continue reading

Raman Uncovers Prehistoric Paintings

This application note focuses on rock art paintings in five rock art sites in the eastern Iberian Peninsula. Each of these sites presents outstanding difficulties of analysis by Raman spectroscopy, the most prevalent being crusts that mask Raman signals from the pigments of the paint recipe. Continue reading

Improving Forensic Investigations using Raman Spectroscopy

This application note in Spectroscopy Magazine discusses the benefits of using portable and handheld Raman spectroscopy (particularly the TacticID handheld Raman spectrometer) to identify forensic and homeland security-related samples. Continue reading

Roundtable Discussion on Raman

In a roundtable discussion with European Pharmaceutical Review, B&W Tek’s Chief Operating Officer, Jack Zhou, answers questions about the progress of Raman technology as it pertains to the pharmaceutical industry, as well as potential developments to Raman devices and the improvement of results they could provide. Continue reading

Using Raman to Identify Contaminated Alcohol

This article, published in Spectroscopy magazine, discusses using portable Raman spectroscopy to identify and quantify methanol in contaminated liquor. We discuss why portable Raman spectroscopy is the ideal choice for screening methanol-laced rum and other types of adulteration. Continue reading

New Article in the Journal of Raman Spectroscopy

This research article discusses using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) to detect & identify traces of pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), ethylene glycol dinitrate (EGDN), cyclotrimethylene-trinitramine (RDX) & trinitrotoluene (TNT) using commercially available substrates… Continue reading

App Note: Quantitative Analysis of Tertiary Mixtures

Application note on using Raman spectroscopy to develop a quantitative calibration model to determine the glucose, fructose and sucrose concentrations in a tertiary aqueous mixture. Continue reading

Tip of the Week: 05/14

For field applications like geological or archeological studies, use DC power on any B&W Tek portable Raman spectrometer for battery operation mode. Continue reading

Educational Video Series: Episode 6 – Raman Spectroscopy

In this season finale episode of B&W Tek’s Educational Video Series we discuss Raman. Our discussion will include an introduction … Continue reading

Raman Spectroscopy Tackles Pharmaceutical Raw Materials

Today’s Raman instrumentation is faster, more rugged and less expensive, and advances in component miniaturization have led to the design of high-performance, portable, handheld devices. These handheld devices are particularly well-suited for pharmaceutical applications. Continue reading

Analytical Instrumentation Gets Faster, Smaller, and Easier to Use

Drug Development & Delivery magazine recently contacted B&W Tek to discuss how we’re developing devices that address key trends in today’s pharmaceutical industry: the need for faster sample prep, more user-friendly equipment, and smaller but more sophisticated instruments. Continue reading

Tradeshow: Pittcon 2013

B&W Tek is very excited to share our most recent technological advances at Pittcon this year! Since last year’s show, we’ve made some really exciting developments in our products and services! Continue reading

i-Raman Plus: Enhanced High Resolution Raman System

We are proud to announce the i-Raman® Plus portable Raman spectrometer – an enhanced version of our award winning i-Raman, now powered by our innovative smart spectrometer technology. Continue reading

BiOS & Photonics West 2013

B&W Tek is very excited to share our most recent technological advances at Bios and Photonics West this year. Since last year’s show, we’ve made some really exciting developments in our products and services! Continue reading

Tip of the Week: 12/10

If you’re seeing a significant amount of fluorescence in your Raman signal, use B&W Tek’s proprietary airPLS background correction. Continue reading

Tip of the Week: 11/29

When choosing the correct Raman spectrometer for your lab, it is important to consider the overall utility of the system. Continue reading

Tip of the Week: 10/10

When measuring sources of unknown intensity, it is often useful to use the “auto-integration” function in BWSpec… Continue reading

E-book: Portable Raman Enters a New Era

In this e-book, see how Raman has gained new reach within the pharmaceutical industry, due in large part to improved performance, better functionality and ease of use, and easy transfer of spectral information and libraries… Continue reading

Webcast: Raman Spectroscopy for Biomedical Diagnostics

On Wednesday, 10/17/12 at 1pm (EDT), we will be sponsoring a webcast given by Dr. Jennifer Granger, hosted by Spectroscopy Magazine… Continue reading

Tip of the Week: 8/22

The BAC151A Raman Video Microscope is designed specifically for the head to be removed from the stage and attached to … Continue reading

App Note: In-situ Monitoring of Polymorphic Transitions using Raman

Application note on the benefits of Raman spectroscopy to identify polymorphs in the pharmaceutical industry.… Continue reading

Webcast: Spectroscopy in Medicine & Biology

On Tuesday, 6/19/12 at 11am EDT, we will be sponsoring a webcast given by Dr. Robert Alfano, hosted by BioOptics World… Continue reading

App Note: Raman for Identification and Characterization of Polymers

Application note on the benefits of Raman spectroscopy for the identification and characterization of polymers… Continue reading

Patent Awarded: Fiber Spectroscopic Probe Mounted onto Microscope

Spectroscopic probe directly mountable to a microscope to add spectroscopic functionality with minimal alteration to the optical path… Continue reading

App Note: Fundamentals of Raman Spectroscopy

App note on the fundamentals of Raman spectroscopy based on the popular webcast given by Travis Thompson, transcribed by LFW… Continue reading

App Note: Quantitative Raman Analysis

Chemometric modeling to determine concentrations of methanol in tertiary mixtures using a high resolution portable Raman spectrometer… Continue reading

BWSpec 4.00: Spectral Data Acquisition Software

Announcing new improvements including spectral management system, spectrum list panel and 64 bit compatibility… Continue reading

Webcast: Raman Analysis of Polymers and Additives

On Wednesday, 3/7/12 at 1pm (ET) we will be hosting a webcast given by Travis Thompson and Henryk Herman, hosted by Spectroscopy… Continue reading

BAC200: Raman Micro Lensed Probe

We are proud to introduce the first Raman probe capable of delivering high performance in a diameter of less than 4mm… Continue reading

Raman Knowledge: Your Guide to Fundamentals of Raman Spectroscopy

We’ve provided a full technical section on the theory of Raman scattering as well as the components of a Raman spectrometer… Continue reading

PolymerIQ: Raman Polymer Identification and Quantification

Announcing a revolution in fast and accurate measurements of polymers and additives, jointly developed with Gnosys Global… Continue reading

Poster: Quantitative Raman Analysis at FACSS 2011

Chemometric modeling to determine concentrations of methanol in tertiary mixtures using a high resolution portable Raman spectrometer… Continue reading

BWIQ: Chemometrics Software

Multivariate software for analysis of spectral data to discover internal relationships between spectra and response data/sample classes… Continue reading

Webcast – Fundamentals of Raman Scattering

On Thursday, 9/22/11 at 1pm (ET), we will be presenting a webcast given by Travis Thompson, hosted by LaserFocusWorld… Continue reading

Webcast: Multiple Distributed Portable Raman Spectrometers

On Tuesday, 9/27/11 at 2pm (ET), we are sponsoring a webcast given by John Kauffman of the FDA Division of Pharmaceutical Analysis… Continue reading

GemRam: Raman Gemstone Identification System

Debuting the GemRam, a new, portable Raman spectrometer dedicated to the verification and identification of gemstones… Continue reading