Remember the game hide and seek?  If you played this game outside, as a “hider” it was important to find a really big tree so the “seeker” had no chance of spotting you.  As the seeker, you always wondered if anyone was hiding behind the big trees. 

The same thing happens in the world of particle analysis.   The particle analyzers can very easily spot the big particles and measure their size.  However, you always wonder if a small particle is hiding behind the large one? 

Not any more!  You might want to check out this application note.  The advantage in hide and seek now goes to the seeker with a new technological breakthrough in particle analysis.  I’m not going to shamelessly hype any products but you should probably at least take a look at this new technology. 

Application Note is found at:  http://www.chem.agilent.com/temp/radF9367/00001916.PDF

Product information at: http://www.chem.agilent.com/Scripts/PDS.asp?lPage=62634

I remember as a kid we were sometimes allowed to mix up a glass of chocolate milk after school.  If we used too much of the chocolate powder or we didn’t mix it properly, we ended up with a bunch of black goo in the bottom of the glass.   And yet when we had the little containers of chocolate milk at school, it didn’t have that problem.  Why was that?

Chocolate milk reminds me a little of particle analysis and the zeta potential of colloids.  Agilent has recently introduced its Series 7000 line of particle analyzers.  (See www.agilent.com/chem/particles for more info) One of the analyzers - the Agilent ZetaProbe - is all about ensuring the stability of the suspension.  As I talk with customers working with colloids not everyone understands the power of using zeta potential to ensure the stability of the suspension. 

If you’re someone dealing with suspensions, let me recommend a couple of resources to learn more about zeta potential.  

Applications notes explaining zeta potential: http://www.chem.agilent.com/scripts/LiteratureResults.asp?iprodinfotype=4&imodel=1765 

e-seminar presentation given by Dr Richard O’Brien, a pioneer in the field of zeta potential: http://www.chem.agilent.com/scripts/LiteratureResults.asp?iprodinfotype=4&imodel=1765

My recommendation - mix yourself a glass of chocolate milk - and read up on zeta potential.  Let me know how it goes! 

Although I’m not a medical doctor, I’m very intrigued with the possibility of nanoparticles becoming the drug delivery mechanism for the future.  Delivering small doses of medicines directly to cancer cells would eliminate the painful chemotherapy that many now have to suffer through.  I’ve had several friends who have gone through this misery and it’s something that I hope researchers and doctors can figure out.

The key is really to use the right sized particle, coated with a molecule that will attract itself to the diseased cell.  Once inside the cell the nanoparticle can deliver enough medicine to kill just that cell and not the healthy cells that may be around it. 

Agilent announced at Pittcon a particle size spectrophotometer that can measure the particle size distribution in the 5 nm to 15 um range - the sweet spot for these drug delivery nanoparticles.   Using our proven UV-VIS spectrophotometer technology the instrument is able to measure and display a wide distribution of particles in suspension in only 5 seconds.   Getting the right-sized nanoparticles should help researchers find the drug delivery mechanism of the future.

If you are looking for a good article on this subject check out this website — http://www.expresspharmaonline.com/20080415/healthcare01.shtml

If you want to learn more about the Agilent 7010 Particle Size Spectrophotometer, check out this website — www.agilent.com/chem/particles