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Magnetic bead kits are widely used in bioscience laboratories nowadays, as their development and perfecting during recent years has been significant. Both scientists in research labs, for immunoassays and magnetic separation processes, and lab technicians in hospitals, using IVD kits for molecular diagnostics, have experienced an improvement in their separation processes due to these magnetic bead kits. As using a biomagnetic separation process has proven useful for these applications, the increasing demand in magnetic beads has lead providers to develop cost-effective ways for their production.

A very common problem that occurs when scaling up non-homogeneous magnetic separation processes in a magnetic separation rack is irreversible aggregation of the magnetic beads. When the process is scaled up, the magnetic force experienced by the beads closest to the magnet is very high.

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When using a standard magnetic separation rack, often you will experience a decrease in bead and biomolecule yield when scaling up your production process. This causes the scaled up process to be less economically efficient than it could be with yields commensurate to your original production.

Classic magnetic separation rack devices are designed such that both the magnetic field gradient and the magnetic state of the beads vary with the position of the beads. This means that once a process has been validated at a specific volume (i.e. your process has low material losses and no irreversible aggregation), it is difficult to change batch size without needing to re-validate the process.

Chemiluminescent Immunoassays (CLIAs) are excellent assays for high throughput, low analyte concentration, time sensitive testing and isolation. Using magnetic beads as the reagent in a CLIA, for example coated in the form of streptavidin beads, is an easy and established technique favored among many clinical scientists.

Any small volume classic magnetic separation rack is relatively cheap and does a fairly good job at separating magnetic beads. However, if the process involves multiple instances of capture and elution steps, irreversible aggregation becomes a real problem. In small volume separations (i.e. on the order of milliliters), using the appropriate techniques can give you excellent re-suspension results.

Magnetic bead suppliers vary in how they produce their product, how they deliver their product and how they guarantee their product. Some suppliers will also only provide common types of magnetic beads, such as magnetic streptavidin beads, while others will offer more specific products.

When new magnetic beads reach the market, one of the questions users have is, how well will it separate?

In a standard magnetic separation rack, scaling up to a larger lot volume usually creates four common problems: