Physicists in the Urals have come up with a pilot series of four spectrometers based on the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) phenomenon. The new solution is slated for serial production later this year.

The device is said to be portable and yet able to do gauging with accuracy comparable with that of large equipment. This has reportedly been made possible through the applying of what the locals claim is a “unique” modulation-free technique of signal registration.

The spectrometer is expected to be in demand across a variety of sectors. The developers say it will help diagnose cancers at very early stages and check the quality of new drugs on submolecular levels. As a means of measuring radiation levels the new instrument could be used in monitoring foodstuffs for radiation. It is also said to be useful in prospecting earth for minerals or identifying impurities in crude oil or precious stones.

“So far we have decided to focus on areas where EPR spectrometers could be used in large numbers, specifically, medicine and dosimetry,” the source quoted Alexander Cherepanov from the Ekaterinburg-based Ural Federal University (UrFU), one of the developers, as saying.

The global market for EPR spectrometers is roughly divided between manufacturers from Germany and Japan. Developers offer either very bulky, room-sized multifunctional systems that weigh something between three and five tons each and cost as much as $2.5m apiece, or desktop options that cost up to $100,000 but have considerably reduced functionality.

The electron paramagnetic resonance phenomenon was first discovered as far back as 1944 by Evgeny Zavoisky, a scientist from the Russian city of Kazan in the mid-Volga area.