Shimadzu HPLC to improve lab workflow

The i-Series promotes an advanced laboratory environment with operation capabilities from the built in touch panel and a smart device.

It consists of the Nexera-i, which supports ultra-high speed analysis, and the Prominence-i, which backs conventional to high-speed analysis.

The i-Series supports a range of HPLC analyses in the food and beverage industry, such as active ingredient analysis and toxic substance analysis.

Systems with a photodiode array (PDA) detector are ideal for analysis of synthetic pigments and qualitative analysis with a UV spectrum and simultaneous quantitation by wavelength switching are possible.

PC-free lab​

It enables a PC-free laboratory by allowing control of the instrument from a smart device, such as a smart phone, and via an Interactive Communication Mode (ICM).

The ICM feature enables operators to start an analysis via the instrument while the data acquisition is synchronized with LabSolutions workstation.

Analysts can use a smart device to start the analysis and remotely monitor system status and chromatograms without using any special software.

Dr Gesa Schad, product specilaist HPLC at Shimadzu told FoodQualityNews.com that the instrument is well-suited to any lab that needs to do quality control.

“A food processor needs to meet standards and show that the food is below pesticide limits or food impurities in products such as meat and cheese and HPLC can quantify this.​

“The benefits of PC-free depend on how big the lab is but you don’t need someone to look after it or dedicated operators. If gives operators the time to do other things such as looking at the data and writing the reports.  ​

“If it is a routine application which you run every day you can run samples at a high throughput and the time depends on the method, it can be two minutes or 15 minutes.”​

Advanced lab environment​

Schad added it was a new design and not just based on a previous instrument and includes the latest technology to develop the established HPLC technique.

The i-Series reflects customer requirements for improved performance, usability, and automation, said the firm.

Dual-temperature control function in the detector's optical systems and flow cells ensures reliable data unaffected by room temperature fluctuation.

Compared with an in-Class HPLC system, the baseline fluctuation has been reduced by about a factor of 20, said the firm.

The HPLC system allows the direct injection of highly concentrated samples without dilution, saving preprocessing operation.

Even when injecting ultra-low volumes, such as 1 µL or less, it offers precise analysis with injection volume repeatability of 1% or less.

The injection cycle time has been reduced to half of that of Shimadzu’s previous integrated system which reduces analysis by more than 47 minutes when analyzing 384 samples in four 96-well micro titer plates.