Radio-detector is up to speed with fast LC

1 August 2006

LabLogic Systems contributed to a recent meeting organised jointly by Waters and GSK to discuss best practice in the application of the new 'fast LC' technique to quantitative bio-analysis.

The company, which is the leader in the application of flow-through radiochemical detection coupled with sub 2 micron column HPLC systems, joined 30 representatives from all the UK pharmaceutical companies and contract research organisations to address the issue of how to ensure adequate separation of analytes in as short a time possible whilst maintaining reasonable detection parameters.

Achieving this balance has been made more critical by the introduction of fast LC particle sizes below 2 microns and the resultant narrower, sharper peaks. Widths are around 10 seconds, compared with typically 60 seconds or more using conventional HPLC.

LabLogic has become involved in the optimisation of the new method because of its on-going relationship with the industry's leading names, and because it is able to offer the Beta-RAM on-line radioactivity detector, the most sensitive instrument of its kind on the market.

With an output of 10 data points per second, Beta-RAM is particularly well suited to the demands of fast LC, allowing 100 points to be recorded in a 10-second peak.

The instrument uses high specification 1 inch photomultiplier tubes to maximise signal-to-noise ratios for ultra-low backgrounds (less than 4 cpm for tritium and less than 1 cpm for carbon-14) combined with optimum counting efficiency (more than 60 per cent and more than 90 per cent respectively).