HORIBA Scientific has announced products using technology from CytoViva, Inc. that combine HORIBA’s Raman microscopes with CytoViva’s hyperspectral imaging (HSI) microscopy module and enhanced darkfield (EDF) illumination. This integration is of interest for applications related to nanomaterials research, drug delivery, nanotoxicology studies and SERS nanoparticles characterisation. HSI microscopy allows rapid imaging across the sample with high sensitivity. Coloured images generated from the spectra guide the user to easily locate nanoparticles and features of interest. CytoViva’s patented EDF illumination improves the signal-to-noise ratio up to ten times over standard darkfield microscopes. The detection limit in size improves sufficiently to allow visualising nanoparticles as small as 10 nm when isolated.
Integrating Raman with HSI and EDF allows users rapidly to visualise the sample and target regions of interest. They can then perform Raman measurements from the identical field of view to provide and confirm the chemical identify of nanoparticles or other sample elements.
