To answer the question “Is the EASY Screener for you?” we have to understand what the EASY screener is capable of
Click here if you want to know the answer directly.
EASY Technology
The EASY screener is based on the technology of nonlinear light scattering. In particular, the physical process is based on second harmonic generation (SHG) applied to light scattering. The two process combined (second harmonic generation plus light scattering) is called second harmonic scattering. What is important is to understand the physical conditions where we can use the technology. In particular, the EASY screener being based on second harmonic scattering is:
- Forbidden (no photons are generated) in centrosymmetric or isotropic media (for example, monomers, istoropic medium, centrosymmetric crystals)
- Allowed in non-centrosymmetric environments (collagen, interface, non-centrosymmetric crystals)
To get the technological jargon defined, centrosymmetry means you can look at the material in all direction and it will look the same (a more technical term is it contains an inversion center). For example, a monomer, assumed spherical is centrosymmetric, that is, it is the same everywhere. A monomer thus will not emit any second harmonic photons. In contrast, a dimer, that is a combination of two monomers is non-centrosymmetric (you can find an imaginary line where the material looks different). A dimer is thus, second harmonic active.
The above property allows the EASY screener to monitor how the material changes. Thus, a direct measure of aggregation. The EASY Screener is thus useful in monitoring any form of aggregation.
Is the EASY Screener for you?
Going back to the previous question, “Is the EASY Screener for you?” The EASY Screener is valuable for you if :
- You measure the solubility limit of compounds (small, macromolecules, proteins, etc) using
- HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatography) in combination with mass spectrometry or UV-Vis spectrometer
- Nephlometry
- UV-Vis spectrometer
- You want to precisely monitor the aggregation of compounds, molecules and substances with focus on “pre-aggregation” or the onset of aggregation:
- EASY is particularly good at monitoring the pre-aggregation where Nephelometry (being based on linear scattering) is struggling
- EASY provides reproducible (std/mean) measurements at the pre-aggregation level because it ignores the background (i.e., sensitive only to non-centrosymmetric media)
- Replacement for any application of nephelometry requiring precision and reproducibility at low concentrations of substances.