The seven senses of the Internet of Things
Given that sensors are indispensable when it comes to capturing data, the sensor sector sees huge potential in the IoT. Swiss-based Innovative Sensor Technology IST AG is at LABVOLUTION 2017 to tell visitors all about sensors that make perfect sense for IoT applications.

Sensors form the foundation of any application that uses the Internet of Things and are the very first link in the value-added chain - sensors. Normally, a product that is to be networked will be fitted with a sensor that measures the desired parameters and forwards them to the connected hardware or electronics so that apps or other services can ultimately put all the data that is collected to good use via big data platforms. As a leading supplier and partner for physical, chemical and biological sensors, IST AG wants to ensure its customers can use its sensors to generate data for IoT applications.

Thanks to their robust design, long service life and precision, IST AG sensors are ideally suited for IoT applications, even in harsh environments. IST AG can manufacture sensors with extremely small dimensions (smallest sensor: 0.8x0.8 mm), which is a huge advantage for IoT applications, where the miniaturization of electronic components is extremely important. When integrated into appropriate IoT applications, the sensors from IST AG can be used to measure temperatures, flows, humidity, conductivity and biological media (particularly glucose and lactate). For example, shipping companies that specialize in the food sector can use sensors from IST AG to find out what kind of humidity levels and temperatures their cargos are exposed to - and they can do that right across the supply chain, from loading to transportation and unloading. Or, to take another example, large garden nurseries that want to monitor the salt content of their growing soil to ensure the right amount and type of fertilizer is applied at the right time can use an IoT application to introduce a monitoring system. In this scenario, conductivity sensors would be used to measure salt levels in the soil, forwarding the information and ultimately providing it for operational use via a specific platform. This ensures salt levels are continuously monitored, fertilizer is applied appropriately and the nursery can react rapidly to any deviations. Users looking for the right sensor to integrate into their IoT solution will find exactly the help they need at the IST AG stand at LABVOLUTION 2017.
Innovative Sensor Technology IST AG (9642 Ebnat-Kappel, Switzerland), Hall 20, Stand C42/1
Contact: Tine Kortegaard
Tel.: +41 71 992 01 00
E-Mail: tine.kortegaard@ist-ag.com

Fast technology makes short work of sources of infectious disease
GWK Präzisionstechnik GmbH is at LABVOLUTION 2017 to showcase the LegioTyper R&D project, a detection system for rapidly assessing the risk of exposure to Legionella.

Around 600 cases of Legionnaires' disease - a form of pneumonia caused by bacteria - are reported in Germany each year. When an outbreak of the disease occurs, the source of infection needs to be found as quickly as possible to prevent the disease from spreading further. To be totally certain when identifying the source of infection - usually technical facilities carrying water - a complete match is needed between the bacterium found in the patient and the pathogen detected in the facility. Currently this is generally performed using complex fine typing that often takes from several days to weeks. GWK Präzisionstechnik GmbH has joined forces with project partners the Technical University of Munich, TU Dresden and the Bavarian State Office for Health and Food Safety to establish a fast and sensitive test method for typing Legionella in infected individuals and in air and water.

To this end, the research network is developing a biochip that automatically performs fine typing within minutes and - similar to a computer chip - can process large volumes of information in the smallest of spaces. This technology is designed to be much faster than conventional testing procedures so that future infections can be resolved more quickly. There are plans to use the detection system for rapid typing both in clinical diagnostics and in regional health authorities to manage infectious diseases. The system could also be used to identify other pathogens, as it works quickly, reliably and cost-efficiently.
GWK Präzisionstechnik GmbH (80339 Munich, Germany), Hall 20, Stand D17/1
Contact: Christian Heese
Tel.: +49 89 7264960-0
E-Mail: info@gwk-munich.com

Treat your preparations to a professional photo shoot
Leading global trading company VWR International, which supplies products and services for laboratories, clean rooms and manufacturing, is bringing a new digital microscope to LABVOLUTION 2017 that is outstandingly sensitive to brightfield, phase contrast and fluorescence.

Besides its own "VWR Collection" brand, the portfolio offered by VWR International GmbH contains only superior-quality products from well-known manufacturers that are designed to meet the most stringent performance and productivity demands in the pharmaceutical sector, biotechnology, medical engineering, the semiconductor industry, electronics and research and development. The new InCellis cell imager digital microscope from French manufacturer Bertin Instruments that VWR International GmbH is unveiling at LABVOLUTION 2017 is no exception - and the trading company from Darmstadt promises it sure has the "wow" factor!

This mighty claim for the InCellis cell imager digital microscope stems from its unique sensitivity to brightfield, phase contrast and fluorescence. Its low-light CMOS color sensor (1280 x 1024 pixels) ensures true color information, maximum light sensitivity and minimum background. It has motorized fluorescent light modules for up to four simultaneous fluorescence channels and all current dyes, and its long-life LEDs will activate fluorescent dyes for more than 50,000 hours. The bright, touch-sensitive, 17-inch color display has a resolution of 1280x1024 pixels, is waterproof and can be adjusted to various angles. A wide range of lenses are available for the motorized, rotating sextuple nosepiece (4 - 60x, Olympus) to focus on brightfield, phase contrast, fluorescence and culture vessels/plates and slides. This impressive combination of features makes the InCellis cell imaging system a smart investment for high-quality, publishable images of cells or tissue sections in all standard formats of vessel or slide. Its exceptionally light-sensitive CMOS color sensor with 'chameleon' technology and optimized proprietary beam paths can produce extremely high-quality images of even the weakest fluorescence signals and true brightfield colors.
VWR International GmbH (64295 Darmstadt, Germany), Hall 19, Stand B86
Contact: Christian Lohmann
Tel.: +49 9131 6107065
E-Mail: info@vwr.com

New source of ultra-pure water
The arium mini that Sartorius Lab Instruments is showcasing at LABVOLUTION 2017 is a compact ultra-pure water system that has been specially developed to meet daily requirements of up to ten liters.

At just 28 centimeters wide, the exceptionally compact, new arium mini ultra-pure water system from Sartorius will fit into almost any laboratory environment. Specially developed for applications that require no more than 10 liters of ultra-pure water per day, the arium mini can supply a flow rate of up to one liter per minute. The two versions of this compact ultra-pure water system are on show side-by-side to visitors at LABVOLUTION 2017 in Hannover.

The arium mini requires no fixed connection to a water supply, as it is fed by an integrated bag, which is filled via the system's own built-in pump. Pre-treated water is automatically pumped into the bag as the source for manufacturing ultra-pure water. The five-liter bag, which was originally designed for pharmaceutical applications, is extremely well suited for storing purified water because its closed bagtank system prevents secondary contamination and thus ensures consistent high-quality water. Refill times are shorter than for conventional tank systems because the bags are so easy to change. What’s more, there is no need to use corrosive cleaning agents, which makes the system much safer to use.

The arium mini Plus model can be directly attached to a water supply, which is then pre-treated using a special cartridge containing activated charcoal and a reverse osmosis filter that is securely fitted inside the integrated bag. The final processing step to produce the ultra-pure water takes place in the specially developed arium purifying cartridge. For analytical and particularly critical applications, such as HPLC/UHPLC, the arium mini can also be equipped with an optional UV lamp (185/254 nm) so as to produce ultra-pure water that is free from organic components.
Sartorius Lab Instruments GmbH & Co. KG (37079 Göttingen, Germany), Hall 20, Stand C39
Contact: Dominic Grone
Tel.: +49 551 308 3324
E-Mail: dominic.grone@sartorius.com

Print yourself healthy
The Fraunhofer IST will be joining forces with project partner GeSIM Gesellschaft für Silizium-Mikrosysteme mbH to present the latest developments in 3D printing and plasma treatment at LABVOLUTION 2017.

Research staff at GeSIM, the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST and six other project partners are looking to highlight new approaches in regenerative medicine using physical plasma in Hannover. 3D-printed biocompatible support structures known as scaffolds play an important role in the field of regenerative medicine. For example, they serve as a basis for producing biological tissue intended to support wound healing and minimize the risk of postoperative infection. The advance in 3D printing being exhibited at LABVOLUTION 2017 will improve time and cost efficiency when producing the scaffolds while at the same time functionalizing them using atmospheric pressure plasma processes.

Atmospheric pressure plasma processes are a promising way of modifying the surface of even three-dimensional structures, for example to promote or deliberately inhibit cell growth on the surface or provide functional groups for chemical docking of biomolecules. Use of microplasmas also makes it possible to functionalize selected areas of the surface or apply a patterned coating. What’s more, atmospheric pressure plasma processes have a number of advantages over other surface treatment technologies. In addition to enabling short treatment times, the plasma processes are highly scalable and can readily be integrated into existing process chains. This simple integration is exactly what the project being presented at LABVOLUTION aims to harness. The objective is to functionalize or coat the scaffolds at the printing stage using an integrated plasma jet, thereby tailoring them to the patient's specific needs.
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V. (80686 Munich, Germany), Hall 20, Stand B02
Contact: Franziska Kowalewski
Tel.: +49 89 1205 1363
E-Mail: franziska.kowalewski@zv.fraunhofer.de

Green wave for environmental laboratories
diaLIMS.grün - a new laboratory information and management system developed specifically for environmental laboratories by dialog EDV Systementwicklung GmbH - is making its debut at LABVOLUTION 2017.

LIMS stands for laboratory information and management system. This category of software systems primarily focuses on data processing in analytical laboratories. Based in Hannover, the regional capital of Lower Saxony, dialog EDV Systementwicklung GmbH is one of Germany's best-known software houses developing and selling such systems. The company is unveiling diaLIMS.grün – its new software developed specifically for environmental laboratories - in May 2017 at LABVOLUTION, also in Hannover.

One key feature of diaLIMS.grün is its exceptional configurability, which enables direct depiction of numerous laboratory-specific traits and delivery of relevant master data as resource packages. dialog EDV Systementwicklung GmbH will provide other potential requirements on a customized basis. Whether laboratories prefer a sample-based or order-based approach, or a combination of the two, diaLIMS.grün offers tailored support for all processes. The entire workflow - from quotation to invoice - can be designed so as to enable day-to-day work to be picked up at any given point. What's more, an intelligent tool helps bill the services actually provided. diaLIMS.grün thus provides everything from a single source, including payment and reminder processes.
dialog EDV Systementwicklung GmbH (30559 Hannover, Germany), Hall 19, Stand D76
Contact: Björn Rudolph
Tel.: +49 511 985 940 66
E-Mail: bjoern.rudolph@dialog-edv.de

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