Innovative New Laboratory Consumables from Alpha Laboratories
Alpha Laboratories of Eastleigh, Hampshire, UK, will be exhibiting a number of new products on its stand H1 F32, at Medica this year. Medica is taking place in Düsseldorf, Germany, on November 20-23, 2013.
The new range of Heat2Seal thermal plate seals (pictured) help protect precious samples. These high performance heat-sealing films and foils include products suitable for peeling, piercing, low or high temperature storage and temporary or long-term protection. Nuclease and DNA free options are included in the Heat2Seal line.
Heat sealing can preserve costly reagents and valuable samples, because it creates an airtight and chemically resistant seal, without the complications of using adhesives. Heat sealing protects the well contents from evaporation, condensation, oxidation and cross-contamination during experiments, transport or storage. The range also includes porous gas permeable films for sealing polypropylene and polystyrene culture plates. These are ideal for short term incubation, agriculture/seed storage, insect storage and cell culture.
All Heat2Seal products are available in 125 mm x 78 mm individual sheets, which fit all standard SBS microplates. Seals are also available in roll formats for high throughput applications.
For fool-proof simplicity when exact volume dispensing Dual-Bulb Pastettes are said to be the easiest pipette you will ever use to deliver a fixed, small, measured volume of liquid, fast. Instructions are to "just squeeze the upper bulb to fill, and squeeze again to dispense the precise volume". Also known as Exact Volume Pipettes, these space saving, economical, single piece, disposable, liquid transfer devices are a quick and easy alternative to conventional pipettes and tips. They are particularly useful for untrained hands making them an ideal component of self- test or point-of-care diagnostic kits. Now they are also available in smaller pack sizes they provide a practical option across a wide range of general laboratory applications requiring fixed, small volume sample delivery. Available in a range of volumes from 20-250µl, they deliver with an accuracy of +/-10%.
New SpeciSafe packs solve the problem of getting patient and other biologically hazardous samples safely from their source to the laboratory.
Packing and mailing of samples needs careful handling and adherence to regulations such as UN3373 is a demanding task. SpeciSafe provides a safe, convenient and economical solution to this chore by replacing the secondary packaging with a single piece, flat pack, shock resistant container that combines a unique, internally bonded super absorbent lining.
The efficient SpeciSafe lining soaks up any fluid from leaking vials in seconds. The material is so absorbent that 1 m2 retains as much as 20 litres of liquid. Once the lining has absorbed its maximum volume of liquid, it creates a watertight barrier and effectively seals the SpeciSafe pack eliminating the risk of any leakage from the secondary container.
This can be placed directly in a padded envelope or bag, ready for posting. What’s more, the SpeciSafe pack dimensions minimise postage costs. Depending on the sample vial size they can be mailed at large letter or small packet rate.
SpeciSafe packs are available in a range of designs to fit perfectly around commonly used 95 kPa sample vessels. They include packs for single or up to ten sample containers covering the commonly used urine, blood, and swab vessels, amongst others. One side is made of clear plastic to enable visibility of sample details without unpacking and to provide visible spillage indication to protect the user.
More choice is now available for clinical laboratories with the extended portfolio of clinical laboratory plastic consumables from Alpha Laboratories. Focussing on the core items used in microbiology applications, the range features top quality products for sample collection, transport, storage and disposal. A choice of polystyrene or polypropylene formats together with convenient pack sizes offers a high degree of flexibility for multifaceted environments. All items are manufactured under clean room conditions to EN ISO13845 quality standards and are CE marked in accordance with the 98/79/EC or 93/42/EEC Medical Devices Directives.