Photonics innovation nominated.

Two technologies reflect TOPTICA’s dedication to developing high-performance, application-driven laser systems. With practical benefits for end users, from experimental physicists to biomedical researchers, these innovations align with global demands for greater efficiency, compact integration, and user-friendly operation. Winners of the Innovation Award will be announced during LASER World of PHOTONICS held in Munich (D) during June 2025. They are nominated under two catagories.

1. Quantum Technologies: - CTL 780: Mode-hop-free tuning around 780 nm.
Explore wide mode-hop-free tuning from 750 to 790 nm! Perfect for pumping and probing (micro) cavities and Rb or K atoms, or for characterizing photonic devices across a broad wavelength range.
CTL lasers are the perfect choice when an application demands large mode-hop-free tuning ranges – from resonant excitation of tiny structures like quantum dots and micro-cavities, to molecular spectroscopy and advanced component testing.

2. Category: Biophotonics and Medical Engineering - FemtoFiber ultra FD 780/920/1050 nm.
Completely replacing the free-space paths between a watt-level femtosecond laser and a two-photon microscope is a game-changer for modern microscopy, simplifying multi-photon microscopy. By delivering femtosecond pulses directly from the laser source to the microscope via an optical fibre, users can enable entirely new microscope designs while significantly improving laser safety and usability. With the FemtoFiber ultra FD there's no need for mirror alignment or for power meters - automated fibre coupling makes setup fast and easy.

---

@TOPTICA_AG @PresseBox #TandM

Speeding new therapies to market.

DCS integration into bioreactors provides a foundation for semi-autonomous operations and up to 80% less integration time.

Emerson has collaborated with Sartorius, the international biopharmaceutical company, to natively integrate Sartorius’s Biostat STR^® with Emerson’s DeltaV^TM distributed control system (DCS).The Biostat STR Generation 3 for Emerson’s DeltaV, a variant of the Biostat STR Generation 3 family, is a pre-engineered solution that delivers intuitive connectivity for accelerating and simplifying the process of bringing therapies that improve patient quality-of-life to market.

A manufacturing plant’s DCS provides critical automation of operations for faster, safer production. Life sciences companies often struggle to connect process equipment to their plant’s automation system because engineering and configuring equipment is complex and time-consuming. Biostat STR Generation 3 natively-integrated with a plant’s DeltaV DCS eliminates this complexity for one of the most frequently used components of biopharmaceutical manufacturing. The bioreactors are specifically designed and pre-engineered with DeltaV components from the ground up by Sartorius. The configuration toolkit developed by Emerson and Sartorius has a library of templates that provide standardized configuration.

Using the library, teams can integrate bioreactors into their control system quickly and easily out of the box. Commercial manufacturing sites expect to save up to 80% of their equipment integration time, helping them take advantage of the enhanced features and diagnostics inherent in the DeltaV DCS more quickly and easily. The increased automation reduces the need for manual operation, ultimately increasing quality and speeding up time-to-market.

“One of the biggest barriers to fast delivery of new treatments is the time it takes to connect new equipment to the plant’s control system,” said Nathan Pettus, president of Emerson’s process systems and solutions business. “Working closely with Sartorius to seamlessly incorporate our DeltaV technologies and software into Sartorius bioreactors, we jointly have made one of the most critical components of biopharmaceutical manufacturing ready to connect out of the box for faster speed-to-market.”

Biostat STR Generation 3 bioreactors integrated with Emerson’s DeltaV DCS are built with technologies, including DeltaV Electronic Marshalling with CHARMs devices, to reduce wiring and configuration work during installation. The bioreactors can integrate seamlessly with Emerson’s DeltaV PK Controller as well as S-Series and M-Series controllers. Built-in templates provide standardized configurations for the most common uses, allowing teams to use standard setups out of the box to bring operations online rapidly and safely and allow them to change those operations quickly to meet shifting market needs.

“The biopharmaceutical industry requires modular and scalable bioprocess equipment to help quickly and easily manufacture the treatments patients around the world are waiting for,” said Mario Becker, head of bioreactor technologies at Sartorius. “By integrating Emerson software and technology into our new Biostat STR DeltaV variant, we help our customers rapidly bring their operations online while also maintaining flexibility, scalability, and the current Good Manufacturing Practice strategies that are critical to delivering high-quality treatments.”

The easy configuration and integration of the Biostat STR Generation 3 bioreactors integrated with the DeltaV DCS helps life sciences manufacturers build a connected plant, a core strategy of reaching level 3 of the Biophorum Digital Plant Maturity Model. In addition, increased access to advanced automation strategies and diagnostics from the DeltaV DCS help prepare the plant for the more predictive technologies necessary to meet level 4. Each step change in digital maturity brings plants closer to autonomous operations. Plants will also gain the ability to scale more easily, as installation techniques can be quickly and intuitively replicated across multiple process areas or even multiple facilities across the globe.

---

@EmersonExchange @EMR_Automation @Emerson_news @SartoriusGlobal @HHC_Lewis  #PAuto #Pharma

Expansion at Irish biomedical manufacturer.

As Gaeilge

150 new high-skill jobs in An Spidéal (IRL) have been announced  by Aran Biomedical, the leading biomaterials manufacturer in the medical device sector.

Peter Mulrooney CEO of Aran Biomedical spoke of the expansion and announcement of 150 new positions: “We are excited and proud to announce our plans to build a new state of the art facility in An Spidéal and the creation of these new roles. The past 12 months have been significant for Aran, in that we have expanded our customer base and the number of staff on site to over 120, coupled with the official opening of our dedicated braiding centre in December. We have continued to expand our customer base, and the new jobs and facility will allow us to meet our customers ever expanding supply needs in the biomedical textiles field. The support we have received from Údarás na Gaeltachta has been pivotal to our success since moving our manufacturing base to An Spidéal in 2008.”

An Údarás na Gaeltachta client company, Aran Biomedical, specialises in the custom design, development and manufacturing of medical implants and in response to growing business demand has revealed plans to increase its workforce by 150 over 3 years with the creation of highly skilled jobs in Production, Engineering, Quality and Supply Chain Management.

In addition, the company is planning to treble its manufacturing capacity with the establishment of a new facility in An Spidéal, Co. Galway and it is anticipated that this development will be completed on a phase-by-phase basis, with full completion estimated by mid-2025.

Aran Biomedical (formerly Proxy Biomedical) has been located in An Spidéal since 2008 with the support of the Údarás and has continued to provide highly skilled employment in the Conamara Gaeltacht for the past 13 years.  Through continuous innovation Aran Biomedical has developed a niche biomaterial product and the tireless efforts of the company and its employees has seen exponential development and expansion supporting over 120 jobs currently.

“This is a significant announcement not only for the Conamara Gaeltacht area but nationally also and one which I hope will bring further growth and high-quality employment to the area," commented Government Chief Whip and Minister of State for Sport and the Gaeltacht, Jack Chambers, T.D. "The Gaeltacht is a well-suited home to a substantial number of medical devices companies and we hope that the news of Aran Biomedical’s expansion and opportunities for job creation will be replicated further.”

“Údarás na Gaeltachta is delighted to welcome Aran Biomedical’s announcement of the expansion of facilities in An Spidéal, Co. Galway and plans to create 150 highly skilled new jobs there over the next 3 years," said Mícheál Ó hÉanaigh, Chief Executive Officer, Údarás na Gaeltachta. "The medical devices designed and produced by Aran Biomedical which are shipped all over the world show that Ireland’s Gaeltacht Areas can provide businesses of all types with a perfect base from which to be connected with the world while enjoying world class worklife balance for their employees. The current and potential employment is hugely important to this area and it is hoped that its continued significant investment and high employment will continue in this Gaeltacht area.”

@UdarasnaG #AranBiomedical #Pauto #Ireland, #Medical

 

Oral solid dose manufacturing.

Emerson and IMA Active (a world leader in solid dose processing), are to collaborate on developing new strategies and software to control continuous manufacturing of oral solid dose pharmaceuticals. The two companies will focus on making it easier for pharmaceutical manufacturers to adopt continuous manufacturing and accelerate patient access by improving the quality, quantity and efficiency of production.

In developing the new control strategies, IMA Active will apply its unique understanding of equipment design, machine integration and process logic to identify optimum performance for essential equipment. Emerson will couple these new performance strategies with its advanced, scalable automation technologies and software to deliver robust process monitoring and control.

“We appreciate partners able to share our holistic vision of automation. Having a powerful and flexible platform to enable predictive analysis, to speed and simplify integration of the Pharma 4.0 ecosystem and with wide data integration capabilities is a requirement,” said Marco Minardi, automation manager at IMA Active. “In Emerson, we found a truly common will to achieve these results and an effective user experience that will simplify adoption of continuous manufacturing technology.”

Continuous pharmaceutical processes require precise process control, reliable monitoring of critical parameters to assure quality attributes, process analytical technology (PAT) measurements, accurate processing of analytical data, and advanced control techniques. To manage all these critical variables, manufacturers leverage automation technologies to orchestrate production.

The new software solution will intelligently detect, predict, and alert the occurrence of adverse production events to improve quality and reduce risk. At the heart of the solution, Emerson’s DeltaV™ distributed control system will orchestrate the entire oral solid dose continuous manufacturing line, managing control and automation of a wide variety of equipment and subsystems.

“IMA Active is a master in the processes and equipment required for oral solid dose manufacturing,” said Xavier Marchant, vice-president of life sciences at Emerson. “Together, our two companies will create a solution that makes it easier and faster to adopt continuous manufacturing and unlock the highest level of quality at the lowest production cost.”

@EMR_Automation @Emerson_News #IMAActive #PAuto #Pharma #LifeScience

Keyboards for medical and clean applications.

Diamond Electronics has a new range of waterproof and easy to clean keyboards for medical products, clean industrial applications including food processing, semiconductor manufacturing and laboratories, POS systems and public area data input and control.

Peter Hall, Sales Director of Diamond Electronics, comments, “The market for medical electronics and environmentally controlled industrial applications continues to grow and our new sealed and washable keyboards provided an easy and familiar control and data input HMI solution.”

The iMTC range of sealed keyboards are waterproof to IP68, easy to clean and may be washed in a dishwasher. The keyboards meet medical approval EN60601-1-2 and can be supplied with an approved antimicrobial coating, nano silver or ionic silver antibacterial technology.

Full QUERTY keyboards and square number keypads are available with optional adjustable backlighting, keyboard on/off switch and may be connected to host systems via USB cable or wireless link. Keyboards may be supplied with a push sensor mouse or optical tracker ball.

@diamondhmi #PAuto 

Biopharma alliance announced.

Zenith Technologies and GE Healthcare’s Life Sciences business have announced a collaboration to support biopharmaceutical manufacturing deployment.

As part of the partnership, Zenith Technologies’ methodologies, systems and libraries will be offered as a service to GE Healthcare’s clients in bioprocessing. The combined offering is aimed at helping biopharmaceutical manufacturers increase productivity, improve efficiency and reduce costs.

The two companies will integrate process control systems, manufacturing execution system (MES) solutions and other supporting technologies with GE Healthcare’s start-to-finish technologies and solutions for the biopharmaceutical manufacturing industry.

Jan Makela, general manager at BioProcess GE Healthcare said: "The development of our KUBio modular manufacturing facilities and FlexFactory single-use manufacturing platform was fuelled by the need for customers to deploy biopharmaceutical manufacturing capacity more quickly and at a lower cost.

“Implementing these advanced technology platforms requires automation expertise for which we partner with a number of world class companies. With Zenith Technologies’ expertise in automation integration and customer support, we will be able to offer more choice to customers.”

Brendan O’Regan, founder at Zenith Technologies, said: “This is a significant milestone in our development and ushers in a new era of opportunity for both companies.

“GE offers an unprecedented solution to our pharmaceutical customers to help rapidly deploy capacity and significantly reduce time to market. Combined with our manufacturing software systems and on the ground, global support services, we can help biopharmaceutical manufacturers improve their processes and ultimately increase their competitiveness.”

• Headquartered in Cork (IRL) and with 14 offices globally, Zenith Technologies delivers manufacturing software systems that enable life science businesses to be compliant and competitive. The company combines pharmaceutical industry expertise and full life-cycle support, including managed services, with a portfolio of technology application and platform 
experience.

@ZenithIre #PAuto @GE_LifeSciences #PHarma

Collaboration to drive biopharma manufacturing efficiency.

GE Healthcare’s Life Sciences business and Emerson Process Management have announced a collaboration aimed at increasing productivity and improving efficiency in the production of biopharmaceuticals such as monoclonal antibodies and vaccines. 

Collaboration.

The two companies will collaborate to integrate Emerson’s DeltaV™ distributed control system with GE Healthcare’s enterprise offerings and start-to-finish technologies for the global biomanufacturing industry. The first DeltaV-driven GE Healthcare installation, which is expected to be complete before the end of the year, will be a FlexFactory™, GE’s integrated manufacturing platform based on single-use technologies.

Biopharmaceutical manufacturers are increasingly looking to automate production processes, driven by the industry need to increase efficiency and reduce costs. GE’s start-to-finish portfolio of single-use bioprocessing technologies already allows manufacturers to reduce set-up times and increase manufacturing flexibility. Emerson’s DeltaV system, which uses predictive technologies to connect people, processes and production, enables remote monitoring and control from multiple locations across a company’s network and is already widely used in the pharmaceutical industry. The DeltaV system will be offered as an automation control platform for GE’s single-use bioprocessing offerings.

Emmanuel Ligner, Global Commercial Manager, BioProcess, GE Healthcare Life Sciences, said: “Healthcare providers and the biopharmaceutical industry are facing enormous pressures. Emerson and GE share a vision that an integrated and automated approach to manufacturing has the potential to help drive improvements in production efficiency of these life-saving medicines. This collaboration with Emerson, combined with our depth and breadth of expertise in start-to-finish technologies for bioprocessing, promises to bring real benefits to our customers and to healthcare providers worldwide.”

“We believe that the combination of Emerson’s automation technologies and the GE FlexFactory will offer superior process performance, consistency of product, and reduced validation time,” said Jerry Brown, senior vice president of industry solutions for Emerson Process Management.  “This collaboration will support more predictable processes that eliminate unnecessary work, which translates into a reduced time to market for our customers.”

@EmersonProcess @GEHealthcare #PAuto 

Process and part quality monitoring system on show!

Kistler Instruments will be showing the latest version of its maXYmos TL process and part quality monitoring system with a wide range of compatible sensors at this year's Medtec Ireland. Building on the success of the maXYmos BL version, the maXYmos TL has increased capability with up to 8 XY channels and compatibility with a wide range of sensor types and communication protocols making it ideal for a variety of demanding process monitoring and product testing applications.

The maXYmos TL, TL standing for “Top Level”, may be used for the same simple force-displacement monitoring as the basic version but the extended functionality makes more challenging assembly and product testing applications well within its capability. The extensive functionality and straightforward operating concept using an intelligent touch screen menu system have been proved on the maXYmos BL. Key features of this high end XY monitor are more powerful evaluation techniques, a larger selection of connectable sensors, wide range of fieldbus types, expandability up to 8 pairs of XY-channels and a large (10.4"), high-resolution, colour touch screen display.

The fast data acquisition rate of 20kHz and cycle times down to 0.05 second, compatibility with a wide range of force, torque, pressure, position and angle sensors and communication with a number of different PLC types using Profibus DP, Ethernet/IP, PROFINET & EtherCAT connectivity provides the speed and flexibility demanded by current production methods and test regimes. The system can accept signal input from a wide selection of sources including strain gauge, piezoelectric and potentiometer sensors, +/-10V, LVDT, incremental and SSI encoders. The system analyses the relationship between any two inputs or one input against time and can be expanded to monitor up to eight XY pairs using one master display.

Smallest IEPE-type triaxial accelerometer

Meggitt Sensing Systems debuts world’s smallest triaxial Isotron® accelerometer

Meggitt Sensing Systems has announced the new product launch of the Endevco® model 35A, the world’s smallest ISOTRON® (IEPE-type) triaxial accelerometer with integral electronics, designed for high-precision vibration measurements in three orthogonal axes on very small objects.

Offering a low impedance output, shear mode construction and weighing just 1.1 grams without cable, the adhesive mounted Endevco® model 35A is designed as a complete measurement package to reduce the unwanted effects of mass loading on more delicate test structures. Sensor output is transmitted through the same wires that supply required 4 mA constant-current power. The model comes pre-installed with both field repairable and factory replaceable fine gage wires (34 AWG) as output leads. Model 35A includes the Endevco® model 3027AM5-120 cable with pigtails at one end to connect to the pre-installed accelerometer wires and three BNC connectors at the other end. A removal tool is also provided.

With its extremely small size, the Endevco® model 35A is ideal for the shock and vibration testing of electronic components and equipment; automotive component vibration monitoring; scale model vibration testing; and biomedical research.