Life science
In medicine, biotechnology and pharmacology, drug discovery is the process by which drugs are discovered and designed. In the recent past, most drugs have been discovered either by identifying the active ingredient from traditional remedies or by serendipitous discovery. A new approach, using so-called "rational drug design", has been to understand how disease and infection are controlled at the molecular and physiological level and to target specific entities based on this knowledge. Given this importance, Rigaku has been at the forefront in the development of single crystal diffraction for both macromolecular and small molecule structure determination. Rigaku products range from automated crystallization and crystal imaging through crystal diffraction screening and high-resolution data collection systems to 3D structure refinement and imaging software.
X-ray powder diffraction is extensively used in the drug discovery, design, development and formulation processes to obtain critical knowledge about pharmaceutical products. Many parameters required by the FDA, legal patent issues and drug performance are only accessible by employing XRD. With the introduction of systems specifically developed with the pharmaceutical industry in mind, XRD is now both cost-effective and easy-to-use. Phase analysis and polymorph identification are common analytical needs within both pharmaceutical development and production. In addition, crystal structure determination, the study of non-ambient behavior, and overall morphology help to provide a complete understanding of the properties of a pharmaceutical agent.
The need for chemical analysis of food and cosmetics has increased in recent years. Increased emphasis in industry, and by government, on safety, efficacy and content labeling are the core drivers. Near line monitoring during the production process also affords long-term cost savings from decreased waste, rework and materials costs. The United States (FDA), European Union and various other regulatory bodies around the world strictly regulate the allowable concentrations of heavy metal contaminants in foodstuffs, drugs and cosmetics. In addition, much commercial food production requires careful monitoring of salt concentrations to ensure correct flavor characteristics. Cosmetics that use metal oxides for sunscreen protection factor (SPF) enhancement must have 100% quality inspection to meet U.S. over-the counter (OTC) pharmaceutical regulations. Packaging must also be monitored for contaminates that may leach into products.
For biomaterials which find applications within the human body, the
relationship between the structure of a material and its properties is critical.
Changes in structure can affect not only the mechanical properties of the
material (strength, load bearing ability, etc.) but also its biological
properties and the way it interacts with the cells and tissues in the body. It
is important to be able to fully characterize the structure of biomaterials in
order to give a more complete understanding of these relationships. X-ray
diffraction (XRD) is a technique that allows the study the structure of
crystalline biomaterials materials in detail. In addition to studying the raw
materials, processing can also induce changes in structure that requires
analysis. From the study of ion implantation in bio-alloys to the chemistry of
calcium phosphates, Rigaku technology and expertise provide a number of unique
solutions for biomaterial analysis applications.
Single crystal
Pharmaceuticals
- Combined DSC and XRD analysis: TTRAX III, Ultima IV
- Low-cost polymorphism analysis: MiniFlex II
- Microdiffraction: RAPID II
- High-performance XRD: SmartLab®, Ultima IV
- Protein molecular shape and size: S-Max3000
Food and cosmetics
- Low-cost elemental (XRF) analysis: Primini
- High-performance elemental (XRF) analysis: ZSX Primus, ZSX Primus II, Simultix 12
- Low-cost phase (XRD) analysis: MiniFlex™
- High-performance XRD analysis: Ultima IV
Biomaterials
- Low-cost XRD analysis: MiniFlex II
- Microdiffraction: RAPID II
- High-performance XRD analysis: SmartLab, Ultima IV
- Small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS): S-Max3000