Vitech Scientific Ltd - Laboratory Instruments Supplier - Products/Services

 Pharmaceutical Products & Services

Products & Services

Osmometers

The Osmometer range is made by Advanced Instruments in the USA, leaders in the field of Osmometry. They are extremely useful Instruments for a variety of applications. In Hospital Labs they are used for measuring Serum and Urine Osmolality to determine renal function, alcohol poisoning and water deprivation testing to name just a few applications, but they also have their uses outside the Hospital. For example in Industrial Quality Control Labs, and particularly in the Pharmaceutical Industry, they are used for quickly and accurately measuring solution strength.

The Colligative Properties

The name “Osmometer” is actually a bit misleading because although they are calibrated in milliOsmols what they really measure is freezing point depression; they should really be called Cryoscopes. However, freezing point depression and osmolality are both Colligative Properties, together with Boiling Point Elevation and Vapour Pressure. They are all linked together, if you measure one you can work out the rest. One mole of a substance dissolved in one Kilo of water will freeze at –1.8580C and will have an osmolality of 1000mOsmols per kilo of water. A mole of a fully dissociated substance, like dilute sodium chloride, will have twice the effect because each molecule breaks down into two ions and each ion will contribute to overall effect.

Quality Control Applications

This principle also works for mixtures of substances irrespective of their nature, a mixture of substances all adding up to one mole will also have an osmolality of 1000mOsmols. This turns out to be particularly useful when preparing solutions used for injection or making sports drinks where the osmolality needs to be close to that of blood, around 290-300 mOsmols. It is also a very handy way of monitoring a fermentation process as the break down products will cause the osmolality to rise over time.

How it works

The principle of measurement is to first supercool the sample then subject it to a physical shock to initiate freezing. The temperature is very accurately measured, whilst at the freezing point plateau, with a thermistor probe that is sensitive to 4 places of decimal of a degree Centigrade. This whole cycle takes about one minute.

This quick and sensitive test is often used to check that a solution has been made up correctly and is generally much simpler than carrying out a full analytical procedure.

The Range

There are several models to choose from depending on sample size and degree of automation required. All are described on our web site at www.vitech.co.uk

What else we do

The other Instruments available from Vitech Scientific are all more specific to blood analysis and would find little use outside the Pathology Lab, although the Pharmaceutical Industry uses some of them for Clinical Testing in the screening process. More details can be found on our web site.

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	Vitech Scientific Ltd
	Huffwood Trading Estate,
	Partridge Green, West Sussex, RH13 8AU
	UK
Tel.	+44 (0)1403 710479
Fax	+44 (0)1403 710382