Tomographic Chemical Imaging

About

Background: Characterising the structure of materials is a vital part of developing almost any solid product. For this reason there is a market in techniques for this type of characterisation that is worth approaching £1B worldwide. Current techniques have three shortcomings; the analysis is limited to one form of spectroscopy (thus there is no way to include the use of the most powerful analytical technique – chromatography), almost all provide only 2D information or limited 3D analysis and, for many, the instrument is expensive (over £100K) especially when high spatial resolution is needed. The invention addresses all of these shortcomings and can be manufactured and sold for much less than the current £100K for an entry-level system rising to in excess of £200K for more sophisticated versions.   Benefits: When developing new products manufacturers need to understand the structure of the prototypes they create in order to follow the principles of rational design so they can create a product with the required properties in an efficient manner. A failure to do this can lead to very long development times, a failure to achieve the required properties and an absence of insights to enable the efficient rational design of subsequent products. The invention characterises structure in a level of detail other can’t achieve and thus reducing development times, avoiding failure and providing insights where other techniques cannot. Similar comments apply to trouble-shooting and quality control. In summary, the benefits are product development enhancement; trouble shooting for industrial manufacturers used for failure analysis and enhanced capabilities for research organisations.   Potential Markets: The immediate market comprises all manufacturers of polymeric and pharmaceutical dosage forms. It is anticipated that it will be further extended to metals and ceramics.   Stage of Development: We anticipate a preproduction prototype with software in Q1 2017.   ​IP Status Application for a patent is currently going through the examination process with the European Patent Office (PCT GB2015 050417). Further patent applications are anticipated.