Ahura Scientific updated FirstDefender capabilities

Ahura Scientific today announced the software update for its flagship product FirstDefender, a lightweight, rugged, Raman instrument for rapid, field-based identification of unknown solid and liquid chemicals. Ahura Scientific has expanded the number of compounds in its on-board chemical library, broadened the foreign language capabilities and introduced a new scan delay with FirstDefender 2.6.4. As part of this update, Ahura Scientific has expanded FirstDefender’s library to more than 7,600 pure chemical substances, including the threats of most concern to military and public safety personnel as well as innocuous materials that may trigger hoax events. The library extension, including additional industrial materials and intermediates, is part of Ahura Scientific’s ongoing commitment to ensure its customers are equipped to handle new and emerging threats, as well as those faced on a daily basis. With its automatic mixture analysis, FirstDefender enables first responders to confidently identify a vast number of chemical combinations found in the field. Furthering its commitment to global markets, the new software release expands FirstDefender’s graphical user interface to a total of six languages: English, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, German and French. Foreign language configurations, including fully-translated substance libraries and on-board chemical information, will also be available in each of these languages to better allow customers around the globe to rapidly respond to possible chemical threats. In addition to the library expansion and increase in language support, Ahura Scientific has introduced a new scan delay feature particularly sought by explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) specialists, which allows users to delay FirstDefender activation. “Our customer commitment ensures that Ahura Scientific products continue to meet the needs of military, first response and public safety personnel,” said Doug Kahn, chairman and CEO of Ahura Scientific, Inc. “As new chemical threats emerge, we must ensure our customers have access to the latest information and tools in order to better protect themselves and their communities. Ongoing enhancements like this allow our users stay ahead of the curve by quickly and easily updating their equipment wherever they may be”. FirstDefender is a lightweight, rugged instrument for rapid identification of unknown solids and liquids, including narcotics, toxic industrial materials (TIMs), explosives, white powders and more. Certified to MIL-STD 810F specifications for ruggedness, FirstDefender offers the superior performance, portability, accuracy and durability required by today's military and civilian first responders.