NIST UPDATE - Physics Laboratory Articles
May 12, 1997
CHEMISTRY
New Method Combines Quick Imaging, Chemical Analysis
Scientists have long relied on infrared spectroscopy as an analytical
tool to identify the chemical components of an unknown sample.
Likewise, they have used a variety of imaging techniques to study
spatial relationships between chemical components. Now scientists at
NIST have joined with a team at the National Institutes of Health to
improve a system that combines infrared spectroscopy, an array
detector and microscopy to rapidly obtain sensitive spectral images
of complex samples. The new spectral imaging technique is being used
to study biological samples, such as brain tissue, as well as
advanced polymer composites. The imaging technique has many potential
applications in industry and biomedical studies. The advantages of
infrared spectral imaging are its high data acquisition speed and
spatial resolution--on the scale of 10 micrometers (millionths of a
meter). The new system produces images in about an hour that
otherwise would be impractical. NIST holds a patent on the use of the
detector for time-resolved chemical analysis. NIH holds the patent on
the imaging approach.
Media Contact: Linda Joy
- (301) 975-4403
- linda.joy@nist.gov
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