Syagen has developed the leading explosives trace detection (ETD) analyzer for screening people for concealed explosives. The company's has developed its high-speed mass spectrometry (MS) screening technology into the most accurate analyzer available for explosives and chemical weapons detection in terms of sensitivity and specificity. Syagen also has developed proprietary photoionization technology, which it supplies as an OEM product to nearly every leading MS manufacturing company.

Organization

Syagen's markets are in homeland security, which is a direction it took since it's founding in 1996. The company focuses on explosives and chemical weapons detection and has also shown outstanding performance for drug compounds and biological entities. Syagen is the leading provider of atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI TM ) sources, which are available on nearly all current LC/MS instruments, the largest market segment in analytical chemistry. Syagen also maintains an innovative product focused R&D effort in homeland security and life sciences applications.

Products

Syagen's APPI sources are sold under the PhotoMate Ã’ product line to leading companies such as Agilent Technologies, Thermo Electron, Waters Corporation, and Shimadzu Corporation. Syagen recently launched the Guardian TM MS-ETD Portal for screening people for concealed explosives, which we describe next.

Guardian TM Portal for Screening People for Explosives

The Guardian â„¢ ETD Portal from Syagen Technology brings together Syagen's leading edge MS analyzer - the most specific and sensitive molecular analysis for explosives detection - and Sandia National Laboratories' advanced portal and preconcentrator technologies. Guardian screens for explosives as small as one-millionth a grain of sand, in under 15 seconds.

Uncomplicated, no-contact screening: Anyone handling explosives - no matter how carefully - will have traces of explosives contamination on their body and clothing. Because the traces are microscopic, efficient head-to-toe sampling is critical. These invisible traces of explosives are detected by the Guardian portal, achieving the highest level of explosives screening, and outperforming other sampling technologies. The Guardian portal is designed to speed the screening process with as little inconvenience as possible. With three clear sides, it is light and non-confining. By containing the contamination within a controlled area, only a puff of clean air is required to dislodge foreign materials.

MS over IMS: As passengers step into Syagen's Guardian ETD Portal, public security takes a giant step forward. Because MS has a resolving power 10 to 10,000 times greater than ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) that's used in other portals, it is possible to detect more than 30 explosives simultaneously. Its preloaded software database also allows you to easily upgrade to add new compounds. Compared to other analyzers such as IMS, which can detect only a few compounds for any one analysis, MS, with its high resolution method, allows you to screen for up to 10 times as many compounds without compromising precision and accuracy. In a recent report by the National Academy of Sciences, MS was recommended as the core technology for aviation security explosives detection. *