Biomagnetic separation systems (BMS) have been developed over the past decade to offer flexible alternatives to a large number of lab techniques. Lluis M. Martinez, SEPMAG, reviews its growing contribution to therapeutics and diagnostics.
The principle behind biomagnetic separation (BMS) is the action of a magnetic force on particles. Even a simple block magnet can exert some degree of force onto the contents of a nearby test tube, changing their distribution within the tube. The process of refining this with improved orientation of the magnets and fluid to be separated has given way to the powerful and effective SEPMAG magnetic separation products available on the market today.
Ensuring appropriate separation requires the correct magnetic field pattern (i.e. distance from the magnet) – too strong a magnetic force and the particles aggregate, but too weak and they behave too independently. Creating a uniform magnetic force was a key hurdle to overcome. Before the magnetic force was made uniform, capacity was limited to 50ml. Now several litres can be handled, making BMS applicable to commercial production processes.
Further concerns were raised about the safety of the old generation of magnetic machines, with injuries reported and possible interference with nearby pacemakers, computers or magnetic recording devices. These obstacles presented significant challenges to the development of BMS, such that non-magnetic separation research became increasingly popular, in the hope of providing a realistic alternative.
These obstacles were addressed in 2004, through international collaboration and discussions, which resulted in the successful and intrinsically safe scaling up of the process with the additional benefit of a reduced separation time.
This impressive work was further built upon by subsequent dialogues among a number of global in vitro diagnostics (IVD) companies. This resulted in a change in the definition of the BMS process, since newly developed parameters allowed for greater analysis. Defining the operating conditions and separation time provided additional support for developing SOP (standard operating procedure) and Quality Assurance protocols, both important milestones in a product’s journey to the marketplace.
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