Applications
Advancing Microspheres Technologies
Microspheres are extensively utilized in various fields including high-performance chromatography analysis, solid-phase extraction, and biomedical labeling.
Surface functionalized polymer microspheres can be used for detection in various diagnostic fields such as immunoturbidimetry, lateral flow chromatography, latex agglutination, chemiluminescence, flow cytometry and magnetic separation. The performance of microspheres is affected by various parameters, such as surface modification, particle size, and monodispersity, which can ultimately affect the performance of diagnostic reagents. Therefore, it is important to understand how to select microspheres. The binding of proteins to microspheres depends largely on the surface functional groups of the microspheres and their concentration. The size of microspheres is closely related to detection sensitivity and linearity. Generally speaking, the smaller the particle size, the better for the linear range; the larger the particle size, the better for the sensitivity. The monodispersity of microspheres is related to batch-to-batch variation. Therefore, selecting appropriate microspheres is crucial to the development of stable, reproducible and high-quality diagnostic reagents. The following is an introduction to some microsphere applications. Let’s have a basic understanding first. We mainly provide the following 5 types of microspheres for medical diagnosis.
1.Application of latex to enhance immune turbidity
SHBC latex microspheres (50nm-400nm) can be applied in particle enhanced immunoturbidimetry, an improved immunoturbidimetric analysis method based on polyclonal antibodies. Genetic engineering methods are used to combine antibodies with latex particles, and when antigen antibodies combine, an antigen antibody latex microparticle complex is formed, enhancing reaction absorbance. Solid phase immunoassay, latex agglutination test, and microsphere capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay are also used in various projects
2.Lateral flow chromatography - application of colored microspheres
SHBC colored microspheres are obtained by dyeing latex white microspheres, filled with nearly 20% oil soluble dyes in the matrix inside the microspheres. The color is bright and stable, which can present different color bands for different detection items of the same test strip and solve the problem of mutual interference when multiple items are tested simultaneously. This product not only improves the sensitivity of detection reagents, but also solves the problem of instability between batches (size, color difference) of microspheres during the production process. It can be used for qualitative and quantitative detection
3.Lateral flow chromatography fluorescence microsphere application
Fluorescent microspheres are obtained by post dyeing latex microspheres, with fluorescent dyes embedded inside the microspheres. The fluorescence signal is stable and will not leak. Therefore, there is no need to worry about changes in fluorescence intensity caused by dye leakage, nor about the impact of dyes on the crosslinking of microspheres and proteins. SHBC has the characteristics of large Stokes shift, no internal quenching effect during aggregation, strong detection signal, less susceptibility to external environmental influences, and stable fluorescence. It is an ideal marker for immunofluorescence quantitative chromatography and is very suitable for the development and application of quantitative chromatography products.
4.Magnetic microspheres for nucleic acid extraction
Specially designed for nucleic acid extraction and purification, with surface modification of a large number of silanol groups (silanol groups), it can undergo specific binding with nucleic acids in solution under high salt and low pH conditions through hydrophobic, hydrogen bonding, and electrostatic interactions, without binding with other impurities (such as proteins), quickly separating nucleic acids from biological samples. The operation is safe and simple, which is very conducive to the automation and high-throughput extraction of nucleic acids. Used for bacterial genome DNA extraction, plant genome DNA extraction, peripheral blood genome DNA extraction, viral DNA&RNA extraction, HBV/HIV/HCV triple nucleic acid extraction, etc. The high magnetic content and moderate density ensure that the microspheres have good magnetic response speed and good resuspension under the action of a magnetic field, suitable for different types of automated instrument requirements.
5.The application of chemiluminescent magnetic beads
Chemiluminescent magnetic beads are a type of sandwich structure magnetic beads that contain a porous polymer core, which is coated with special polymer materials to obtain specific surface properties. Magnetic materials are filled in the gaps between the two, which can enable the microspheres to achieve greater buoyancy and uniform particle size; At the same time, different coating materials can also be used to obtain various surface groups, reducing the non-specific adsorption of microspheres, providing a good foundation for reducing background signals and improving sensitivity. Chemiluminescent magnetic beads have carboxyl, amino, tosyl, and streptavidin (SA) groups based on their surface properties, which can couple with biological molecules such as nucleic acids, proteins, and peptides to form stable structures. It can be used in various fields such as magnetic particle chemiluminescence, immunoprecipitation and agglutination, magnetic separation of cells, and nucleic acid specific capture.
6.Preparation of photonic crystals
Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that the Huge polystyrene microspheres exhibited a hexagonal distribution form, and after being bombarded with oxygen plasma gas, the time of the bombardment could be adjusted to form an array structure of polystyrene microspheres with adjustable spacing, as shown in picture. Using this structure as a template, metal nanoarray structures with different spacing and different forms can be prepared, which have a wide range of applications in biological detection and optoelectronic devices.
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