Laboratory Equipment and Scientific Instruments Equipment and consumables related to and used in clinical and research laboratories for the preparation, separation, and analysis of samples.
Analytical Instruments :
A wide classification of instruments that are used to analyze material samples, or their components, and record data specific to the application.
Chromatography Instruments :
Instruments are used to separate chemical mixtures, carried by liquids or gases, into components as a result of differential distribution of the solutes as they flow around or over a stationary liquid or solid phase.
Clinical and Research Labware :
Any instrument that can be used in a clinical or research laboratory setting for the purpose of processing or analysis.
Environmental Instruments :
A wide variety of instruments for measurement and testing of changes in environmental conditions, including radiation (both wavelength and as a hazardous emission), temperature, moisture, dew point, smoke, dust, opacity, light, weather, and water quality.
Filtration and Separation Products :
Processing equipment such as centrifuges, clarifiers, and several filter technologies used to filter or separate media of different materials or sizes.
Imaging Equipment :
Sensors and instruments for capturing images for evaluation and analysis, including images in the visible, infrared, and ultraviolet wavelengths.
Dimensional Metrology :
Equipment for metrology, inspection and quality control of dimensional features.
Lab and Test Equipment :
Instruments used to test, analyze, control, calibrate, display and record data in laboratory and other testing situations.
Laboratory Air Handling Equipment :
Laboratory air handling equipment is used to protect specimens and laboratory staff from contamination. Products include fume hoods, biological safety cabinets and clean benches.
Laboratory Safety Equipment :
Equipment used in a laboratory setting to protect workers from harmful gases and chemicals.
Laboratory Thermal Processing :
Autoclaves, furnaces, ovens, heating mantles, hot plates, incubators, refrigerators and freezers and other equipment for laboratory heating or cooling applications.
Labware Consumables :
Laboratory supplies that are used in mass quantities and often need replacement; including glassware, chemicals, test kits, etc.
Liquid Handling Equipment
Products that are used in the moving, monitoring, sealing, transporting, processing, sensing, and/or controlling of any liquid substance.
Microscopes :
A microscope is an instrument capable of producing a magnified image of a small object.
Recorders and Loggers :
Devices that are used to acquire and retain data (digital or analog) from sensors or other sources.
Sample Preparation and Wet Chemical Analysis :
Processes and instruments used to prepare and analyze wet chemical samples in a laboratory.
Separation Techniques :
Products use various methods, including electrophoresis, chromatography, and titration, to separate the components of a mixture.
Spectrometers and Analytical Photometers :
Any instrument used to measure wavelengths of light spectra and optical or atomic emissions for the analysis of samples.
Water Quality Instruments :
Instruments and sensors are designed to test water for a variety of chemical and biological agents as well as clarity, rate of movement, etc.
Material Testing
Material testing engineers must possess an extensive equipment background which enables them to draw upon industry standards and use best practices testing techniques of material testing services:
- customize test methods to meet specific applications
- measure mechanical properties,
- conduct material characterization analysis,
- aid in materials selection,
- add value to quality initiatives
- conduct product performance tests.
The information that an engineer compiles from these tests helps you to select the optimal material for your specific application.
The engineer uses the following material testing services:
Compression Testing
Strength Testing
Fatigue Testing
Flexural Testing
Shock Testing
Tensile Testing
Vibration Testing
Puncture/Tear Testing
Tensile Testing :
Tensile testing involves pulling on a specimen material to determine the relationship between force and stretch, and the force at failure. This mechanical testing method is performed on virtually any kind of material: metals, plastics, paper, film, foil, wire, cordage, etc.
Tensile testing can determine many material properties. Among the most common are:
Modulus
This is the measurement of the stiffness of a material - how much it deflects elastically for a given load.
Elongation
This is the total elastic and plastic (irreversible) stretch of the material before it breaks.
Ultimate Load
This is the maximum force that the specimen will accept before failure.
Yield Strength
This is the stress (load/area) at which a material begins to deform plastically.
Tensile testing can be performed on either finished products or specially cut or formed samples.
Careful consideration must be given to such issues as speed of testing, grip design and application, load cell selection, and others, to yield accurate and credible results.
Compression Testing:
Materials behave differently in compression than they do in tension, so it can be important to perform mechanical tests that simulate the conditions the material will experience in actual use.
Compression testing is typically used to test plastics, foam, rock, concrete and asphalt. It is rarely used to test metals.
Compression Testing is also used in product testing to evaluate the behavior of finished products. For example, a hypodermic needle may be pushed into a material to see how easily it penetrates and to assess its sharpness.
Fatigue Testing What device or material are you interested in fatigue testing?
Orthopaedics
Cardiac Stents
Other
Fatigue testing :
It is used to determine how many load cycles a material can sustain or the failure load level for a given number of cycles.
The results of fatigue testing vary dramatically depending on the material. For example, most steel and aluminum alloys behave very differently under fatigue. Steel typically has a fatigue threshold, which means that if it is tested at loads lower than the threshold, it will never break. Most aluminum alloys do not have a fatigue limit, so it is more difficult to judge when they will break. Even at a small load, most aluminum alloys will fail after a sufficient number of cycles.
Plastics (Polymers) are very sensitive to strain rate, or the speed of testing. Testing plastics at a higher rate will lead to different results than testing them at a low speed. Similarly, plastics are temperature sensitive, meaning that they behave very differently at high temperatures than at low temperatures.
Fatigue testing is very common in the automotive and aerospace industries. This type of mechanical testing is performed using very simple sinusoidal load cycles, or may include very complex reproductions of actual service life load profiles.
Package Strength Testing :
In order to produce acceptable packaging on a daily basis and throughout a determined shelf life validation, it is important to evaluate the strength characteristic. Not only does strength play a key role in a shelf life validation, but it also lets the medical device manufacturer determine that their process for sealing packages is staying consistent to their predetermined specification set in the process validation. There seems to be some confusion within the medical device industry regarding the strength of a package as opposed to the integrity of a package. Package strength concerns the force required to separate two components of the package. It could be the force to separate two flexible components of a pouch, or a flexible lid and a thermoform tray. These forces may be measured in pounds per inch width, as in the seal/peel test; or in pounds per square inch, as in the burst test method. Alone, these tests of package strength values do not necessarily prove the integrity of the entire package. In fact, the seal width that was actually measured may be within the strength specification but may have a channel leak that could breach the package and negate integrity.
The main culprit for poor package strength is the sealing parameters. If a proper process validation of the sealer is not performed, the medical device manufacturer can expect failure.
