OREANDA-NEWS. January 29, 2016. Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) has been honored with an innovation award from The Analytical Scientist. The magazine recognized Agilent for its exclusive dual-needle technology, a breakthrough in the way samples are injected into the company's liquid chromatographs, which separate the samples into their individual parts.

Awards from The Analytical Scientist highlight innovations delivered by transformative technology. The magazine's editorial board, along with a panel of independent experts, chooses the winners. As one judge put it: "[Agilent's] innovation looks very simple, but simply addresses a complex problem."

Agilent introduced dual-needle technology as part of a new autosampler for its ultra-high-performance 1290 Infinity II LC system, which enables scientists to identify and quantify the individual components in a mixture.

"Dual-needle technology transports LC-autosampler usage to a new level of efficiency, opening new possibilities to our customers in their analytical work," said Dr. Stefan Schuette, Agilent vice president and general manager of the Liquid Phase Separations Division.

The award-winning technology provides two sample flow paths within a single instrument. Having two independent paths means that during an analytical run, the instrument can prepare the next sample for fast injection. Smartly overlapping injections reduces run times-a key concern for many labs.

The technology also gives scientists more flexibility, enabling them to run a different sample volume on each port without having to manually change the hardware. Being able to use the same instrument and calibration simplifies the process, eliminates variables between different instruments, and reduces errors.