NanoSight

Press Releases

Strathclyde's Nanometrology Centre Selects NanoSight for the Characterisation of Nanoparticles to Develop New Biosensors

Salisbury, UK, October 2009: NanoSight, manufacturers of unique nanoparticle characterisation technology, has announced that the Centre for Molecular Nanometrology at the University of Strathclyde has selected an LM-10 characterisation system to aid in their research and development of new biosensors.

Lecturer, Dr Alastair Wark’s research interests are based around the preparation, functionalization and application of plasmonic nanomaterials. The use of such nanometre-scale materials and tools is opening up exciting new avenues for the investigation of biomolecular interactions and biological systems with unprecedented sensitivity and spatial accuracy.

Other characterisation techniques such as UV-VIS adsorption spectroscopy and DLS (dynamic light scattering) are useful for bulk averaging measurements but it is the ability to visualize individual nanoparticles one at a time that drew former postdoctoral researcher Dr Robert Stokes whilst working with Professor Duncan Graham to select the NanoSight NTA system. This has catalysed the current research being lead by Dr Wark. “The NanoSight provides an intuitive way of sensing particles and being able to work dynamically in biocompatible liquids collecting multiple single sets of particle information gives statistical credibility to the data.”

This initial work is leading into developments for biosensors involving the controlled aggregation of functionalised nanomaterials in the presence of a specific target biomolecule. The ability to monitor this process in solution using particle-by-particle measurements cannot be achieved with bulk characterisation techniques.

NanoSight’s NTA approach has been shown to be ideally suited to such research activities and with the ability to not only look at spherical particles, but also characterize rod-like materials as well makes the system an extremely powerful nanoscale research and development tool.

To learn more about nanoparticle characterisation using NTA, please visit www.nanosight.com and register for the latest issue of NanoTrail, the company’s electronic newsletter.

About NanoSight
NanoSight Ltd, of Amesbury, UK, is the world leading provider of instruments for the optical detection and real time analysis of sub-micron particles. The Company supplies unique instruments for nanoparticle analysis in the sub-micron region that have specific application in virus particle detection and counting. These instruments go far beyond existing light scattering techniques in characterizing polydispersed systems. Founded in 2004, the company currently has approaching 200 systems in service worldwide, having begun commercial sales in 2006.

The Company’s proprietary knowledge and expertise has enabled the delivery of technologies to blue chip companies and universities for direct visualization of individual nanoscale particles in suspension from which independent quantitative estimation of particle size, size distribution and concentration are immediately obtained. The Company has recently launched additions to its advanced Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis (NTA) software that build on the ground-breaking work of NanoSight’s LM20 and LM10 systems.

The Company has a growing base of users worldwide, including BASF, GlaxoSmithKline, 3M Corp, BP, ICI, Roche & Unilever and many universities. For more information, visit NanoSight's website.

For further information
Please contact NanoSight direct or their marketing agency, NetDyaLog Limited: