"ColSpec® MK2 Detects Microplastics That Enter The Human Food Chain"

ColSpec®MK2detectsmicroplasticparticlesthatcan causeharmtohumanhealth

Microplasticshighlightthedangerofplasticpollutionwell beyondthoseseenbytheeye.

Whileenvironmentalistsgenerallyrefertoplasticparticlesless than5-mmas"Microplastics,"LightFormdesignedColSpec® MK2tofocusonhazardousparticleslessthan1-mminsizethat cancauseharmtohumanhealth.

ColSpeccanidentifyalmostalltypesofplastic, whetherclear,colored,orcombined.

ColSpecisatechnician-friendly opticalsystemthateliminatesthe needforstainingandmostsample pre-preparation.

ColSpecclassifiesobjectsinthefield ofviewincolorspaceanalogousto HyperspectralImaging(HSI)usedin remoteEarthsensing.

ColSpecusesthesamegeneralprinciplesandanalogous softwarealgorithmsusedinHSIsystems.

Forexample,colorspectrallibraries areusedtorecognizemicroplastic targetsinsamples,equivalentto thoseusedinHSIsystems.

TheColSpecMK2opticalsystemusesaresearchqualityzoomobjective,providinguser-selectable magnificationfrom1to24x.Thismagnification rangeisperfectforimagingparticlesgreaterthan1 micrometer.

TheColSpec“CriticalAngleDarkfieldIllumination”systemuniquelyilluminatesawide 365-degreefieldofviewwithhigh-intensityLEDilluminationatanear-grazingangleto produceidealconditionsfordarkfieldreflectionscatter.

Theintensebrightnessofmicroplastics dramaticallydecreasesdetectiontime andincreasestheprobabilityof observingeventhesmallestplastic particles.

LightFormdevelopedacompletesoftware packagethatcontrolstheColSpec camera,usescolor-spectralimaging algorithmstoidentifymicroplastics,and determinestheirsizeandabundance.