Smiths Detection Introduces Portable, High-Speed Chem Detector
Smiths Detection this week added a new product to its detection portfolio, the GUARDION portable chemical identifier that combines high-speed, high-resolution gas chromatography (GC) and a miniaturized toroidal ion trap mass spectrometer (MS) for used by military and emergency responders in the field. GUARDION takes five minutes to start up and can get answers from samples within three minutes, Ken Fredeen, senior product manager for Smiths Detection, tells TR2. The turn around time to run the next sample is less than two minutes, he says, so this is a “game changer” for responders by allowing them to quickly get results in the field from multiple samples. For users the most important thing is to timely be able to identify a substance, “especially with gases and vapors because they don’t stay put,” Fredeen says. The new system allows responders to better characterize and incident by understanding where the threat substances are distributed, he says. The samplers are decoupled from the device, allowing multiple soldiers and responders to collect samples, he adds. The combination of GC/MS is new to Smiths and Fredeen says the integrated capability enables sensitivity in detection while enabling threat identification relatively quickly. The GUARDION can confirm the presence and identify chemical warfare agents and toxic industrial chemicals in gases, vapors, liquids and solids. Smiths is partnered with Torion Technologies to miniaturize, ruggedize and optimize the GC/MS technology.
L-3 eXaminer 3DX-ES EDS Systems Gets EU Standard 3 CEP Approval
In late December L-3 Communications [LLL] Security & Detection Systems business received certification for its eXaminer 3DX-Enhanced Speed (ES) explosive detection system (EDS) under the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) Common Evaluation Process of security equipment. The certification means that the EDS system meets required ECAC performance standards. “We are pleased that the eXaminer 3DX-ES has joined the recently approved eXaminer SX and eXaminer XLB in achieving European Union (EU) Standard 3 CEP approval,” says Thomas Ripp, president of L-3 Security & Detection. “Built on the proven eXaminer 3DX, this enhanced speed system inspects more than 750 bags per hour and is a low-risk, cost-effective solution to higher-speed explosives detection for checked baggage screening.” The testing was performed by the Service Technique de l’Aviation Civile, the engineering department of France’s aviation regulatory agency.
TSA to Leverage Coast Guard Alert and Warning System Supplied by AtHoc
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is adopting the Coast Guard’s Alert and Warning System (AWS) 2.0 for enterprise-wide emergency mass notification. The AWS is powered by AtHoc, Inc.’s, IWSAlerts software. TSA will integrate with the Coast Guard’s mass notification infrastructure that is secure, scalable and based on nationally adopted standards and specifications, allowing for a reduction in information technology overhead costs and increased operational efficiency by consolidating applications servers in the Coast Guard’s data center. The mass notification system can reach 50,000 TSA personnel nationwide in their own virtual private cloud, including over 100 ports and 45 airports, and agency facilities. AtHoc’s enterprise-wide architecture allows deployment in a centralized data center to support the various TSA locations. The IWSAlerts will deliver emergency alerts over multiple channels, such as voice, landlines, mobile and satellite phones, email, SMS text messages and face to recipients in dispersed geographical areas or individual units throughout TSA.
Radiopaque Introduces Airport Security Bin Identification System for General Security
Radiopaque Solutions, Inc. has released the RadMark Airport Security Bin Identification System for general security use, making it available for local courthouses, private and public sites that screen people’s belongings with X-Ray scanners. The identification system includes a uniquely identifiable, X-Ray visible tag that is placed under the rim of a bin. The identification code on the tag matches the identification label on the bin. When the scanner operator selects a bin to be checked it is visually identified on the X-Ray scanner screen by the ID number, allowing the bin to easily be segregated for further screening through visually matching the bin label.
Army, ZyGEM in CRADA for Development of Improved Bio-Threat Processing
The Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases and ZyGEM Corp. have entered a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement for the development of simplified sample processing solutions for bio-threat agents. The two organizations will collaborate on the development, testing and validation of new solutions for the rapid and efficient extraction of DNA and other nucleic acids for the detection of bio-threat agents and other pathogens from a variety of samples. The effort leverages ZyGEM’s proprietary DNA extraction technology, which uses thermophilic enzymes, to provide sample processing capabilities for the detection of a variety of bio-threat agents and for use in challenging environments. “Molecular diagnostics offers the potential to increase the speed, efficiency and accuracy of pathogen detection, but its use has been limited by the fact that isolation of the nucleic acids needed for the analysis is often laborious and inefficient, yielding low quality material that is contingent on the target organism and sample matrix,” says David Saul, senior scientist at ZyGEM. “We believe our enzymatic approaches have the potential to enable the rapid preparation of high quality DNA and RNA for the timely detection of bio-threat pathogens from a variety of sample matrices simply and efficiently, which could be especially valuable for use in demanding conditions in the field.”
In-Q-Tel Invests In Bio-Detection Firm
In-Q-Tel (IQT), the independent strategic investment firm that supports the missions of the U.S. intelligence community, has made an investment in Quanterix Corp. to allow the company to expand the development of its Single Molecule Array (SiMoA) technology to enable simultaneous measurement of both nucleic acids and proteins for the detection of pathogens. The company says the SiMoA will facilitate direct and non-amplified detection of pathogens to obtain a level of sensitivity that could previously only be achieved with amplification methods. “The ability to accurately detect the presence of low abundance molecules makes Quanterix technology a critical addition to our strategic investment portfolio,” says Syd Ulvick, vice president for Physical and Biological Technologies at IQT.