Lab Instrument Trends Predicted Fisher executive cites speed, automation, and combinations as instrument growth areas Speed, automation, and instrument combinations—these are the areas in which major improvements in labora tory apparatus will be made over the next 20 years, predicts Dr. George L. Buc, assistant to the president of Fisher Scientific Co. Dr. Buc, who advises the company on future needs in instrumentation, offered his long-term outlook at Fish er's exposition, lectures, and open house in Medford, near Boston, Mass. The occasion was the formal opening of the company's 14th branch. Present limitations in laboratory ap paratus offer a guide to the direction in which developments will move. For instance, the glass electrode meas ures hydrogen ions, but electrodes to measure other ions haven't come along too rapidly. Obviously, he points out, it would be convenient to have one meter with a set of electrodes, each of which is specific for just one ion. Dr. Buc's conservative estimate is that by 1980 there will be 20 specific elec trodes available for 20 metal ions. Time Savers. In spectrophotom etry, Dr. Buc says, new instruments will fill gaps that exist at present in electromagnetic spectra measure ments. Equally important, speed of obtaining spectra will increase. By 1980, Dr. Buc says, spectra which are now obtained in two minutes, will take only 0.02 min., and manual sam ple preparation and handling, mean while, will give way to automation. Similarly, when large quantities of spectrophotometric and other data are obtained in a short time, laboratories will need better means of handling the data. As Dr. Buc sees it, raw data will be stored only long enough for a computer to do the arithmetic and present results in the most convenient form. Normally, this means concen tration or quantity units, and consid erable work has already been done to make apparatus which is directreading in concentration. But, with so much raw data to handle, the bur den of putting data in concentration units will shift from the analytical ap paratus to the computer. Almost any signal from the analytical device that the computer can use will do the job.
Instrument
Combinations.
As
powerful as individual instruments or methods may be, combinations of them are even more powerful. This is especially true, Dr. Buc maintains, when one is essentially a separation method and the other is an analytical or quantitative method. Although it isn't difficult to put such combinations together and in fact, some are now in use, it isn't yet a completely conveni ent technique. However, because of their potential, Dr. Buc sees a growing use of instrument combinations. Dr. A. J. P. Martin, gas chromatog raphy expert, has predicted that the master analytical chemist of the fu ture will be a gas chromatograph which feeds fractions to a host of other apparatus for qualitative and quantitative analysis. After nonde structive tests are made, it would be possible to burn the fractions, sepa rate with a second chromatograph, and then perform elemental analysis of the combustion products. Biological Analysis. As biological and biochemical research expands, there will be more demands for tech niques that can handle smaller and smaller samples. Chronopotentiometry, which employs small electrodes and short times, promises the most along these lines, Dr. Buc says, and should gain in importance within the next 20 years. Electron microscopy is another tool useful in delineating small structures. Although it has been used mostly to study metals, its biological use is rap idly catching up. By 1980, Dr. Buc predicts, at least as many biological laboratories will have electron micros copy as metals laboratories now do. And, the resolution of electron micro scopes, which is now around 10 Α., will be pushed even lower. Comparing the last 20 years with the next 20 years, Dr. Buc says that, from 1940 to 1960, the analyst was offered many useful techniques. But knowledge, materials, and skills were lacking in many areas. Over the next 20 years, these drawbacks will be overcome so that presently foreseen needs in laboratory apparatus or in strumentation can be achieved.
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BAUSCH & LOMB BAUSCH & LOMB INCORPORATED 90017 Bausch St., Rochester 2, Ν. Υ.
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