• Next Safety (West Jefferson, North Carolina) reported the consumer launch of its bPure8000 series of personal respirators. Independent lab research has shown that the bPure8000 offers filtration efficiencies up to one million times higher than any other mask or personal respirator currently on the market. The respirator uses positive pressure technology which alleviates these concerns while providing a flow of highly purified air, eliminating the possibility that contaminants will bypass the filter by flowing around the mask and into the user's respiratory system. Next Safety makes air-purifying personal respirators.

• Photodigm (Richardson, Texas) introduced a proprietary semiconductor diode laser technology platform that delivers new efficiency and diffraction-limited beam quality advantages over conventional laser solutions. The company's advanced diode laser process technology provides a single-frequency beam at power levels that up until now could only be achieved with a diode-pumped solid-state laser (DPSS), such as an Nd:YAG laser. Photodigm's new platform is based on a Distributed Bragg Reflector (DBR) ridge waveguide process. The quantum-well epitaxial design enables power in excess of 500 mW, with wall plug efficiencies up to 50 percent, while maintaining single-frequency operation. Photodigm DBR lasers provide the optical performance of a DPSS laser without the efficiency penalty of the DPSS laser's quantum defect. Photodigm specializes in photonics technology for communications, digital imaging, defense, and medical device applications.

• Quadraspec (West Lafayette, Indiana) reported the launch of its Inspira dual channel reader. The reader features reagent-free detection and an orthogonal detection method, traditional fluorescence. Quadraspec's SDI direct detection technology eliminates the need for secondary or labeled reagents. Quadraspec is an emerging diagnostics company.