Hydro Insight

A window into deeper materials analysis

The Hydro Insight is a dynamic imaging accessory that sits alongside the Mastersizer 3000+, providing insights that go beyond particle size distribution to particle images and quantitative particle shape data. 

In this way, it helps scientists, researchers, and quality-control managers understand their materials better, develop methods faster, and simplify troubleshooting.

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Overview

The Hydro Insight is an extra pair of eyes in the lab - giving you an extraordinary view of your samples in dispersion, individual particle images, and quantitative particle shape data.

The Hydro Insight is designed to work alongside the Mastersizer 3000+, providing particle images and particle shape data to complement the particle size data from laser diffraction

  • High-speed, high-resolution dynamic imaging technology: 127-frames-per-second digital camera with up to 5 megapixel resolution
  • Imaging of individual particles and liquid particle dispersions
  • Thumbnail images saved for post-run viewing
  • Quantitative data on particle size and shape, including particle width and elongation data


Dynamic particle imaging in real time

The Hydro Insight provides a window into the Mastersizer, letting you:

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Understand your materials better 

Combine shape data from dynamic imaging with particle size distributions from laser diffraction, and get a deeper understanding of why your materials behave the way they do.


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Optimize your method development 

See your dispersion as you develop your laser diffraction methods – allowing you to save time for other projects.


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Be more confident in your product quality 

Combining the resolution of imaging for larger particles with the wide dynamic range of laser diffraction means you can be completely confident of your materials’ properties.


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Quickly troubleshoot unexpected results 

Use the particle images to troubleshoot particle size results that aren’t what you expect


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Speed up your method transfer 

Make transferring from sieves to laser diffraction simple with particle width and elongation data

How it works

Laser diffraction is a valuable tool for particle size analysis. But to develop truly high-performance products, scientists often need a more comprehensive overview than laser diffraction alone can provide. Specifically, to understand what influences packing, flow, and dissolution rate, researchers need to understand how the combination of particle size and shape affects their materials’ behavior.

The Hydro Insight accessory enables this – by combining Vision Analytical’s dynamic imaging expertise with Malvern Panalytical’s flow cell technology. Particles suspended in a flowing stream by the Mastersizer 3000+ dispersion unit flow through the Hydro Insight, and are then photographed by a high-resolution digital camera at up to 127 frames per second.

The camera takes images of the suspended particles in the analysis cell, converts them to a digital format, and sends the information to the software for final analysis in real time. Individual particle images are viewed directly and captured as a video file for post-run processing.

These images, and the particle shape data that can be generated using them, enable researchers, scientists, and quality-control managers to understand their materials better, troubleshoot more easily, and develop particle sizing methods more quickly – ultimately improving product quality.

Specification

Specifications*

Principle Dynamic Imaging
Illumination Xenon Flashlamp
Detector type CMOS sensor
Detector 5 MP (2592 x 1944 pixels)
Pixel size 2.2 μm

Measurable size range

Lens
Standard magnification: 1 to 300 μm**
Low magnification: 10 to 800 μm**
Parameters measured Size and shape parameters: 31
Typical measurement time As per laser diffraction
Materials in contact with sample Tygon® SE-200 FEP inner lining, stainless steel 316
Quartz glass window, glass n-BK7 (glass plug)
Perlast® G60A FFKM seals
Notes * Wet dispersions only
** Sample dependent
*** Hydro Insight only