Estapor® Microspheres
Estapor® Microspheres are a leading brand of polymeric supports for in vitro diagnostics, life sciences, biotechnology and environmental applications. We manufacture, develop, produce, and provide more than 100 different types of microspheres worldwide.
Magnetic, white, dyed or fluorescent microspheres are key components for reagent producers in clinical diagnostics, life sciences, food and environmental industries.
Since the inception of the lateral flow assay industry, we have established ourselves as a pivotal partner and supplier for rapid diagnostics manufacturers and developers. Our expertise spans a broad range of applications, ensuring that developers can find precisely what they need for their diagnostic requirements.
Our IVD test strips are grounded in the proven principles of immunochromatography. Originally revolutionized by the development of the human gonadotropin (hCG) tests, this technology has witnessed substantial advancements. Today, we offer an expansive selection of tests that incorporate Estapor® microspheres, renowned for their reliability and precision, making them the preferred choice for many industry leaders.
Comprehensive Lateral Flow Microsphere Solutions
Our lateral flow microsphere solutions are tailored to meet diverse testing needs:
- Colored Microspheres: Ideal for simple qualitative or semi-quantitative analyses, our colored microspheres provide clear and straightforward results.
- Fluorescent and Magnetic Microspheres: Designed for quantitative assays, these microspheres offer enhanced accuracy and sensitivity for complex diagnostics.
Explore our products and discover how we can enhance the efficiency and reliability of your diagnostic assays. Join the many who trust us as their go-to provider for innovative diagnostic solutions.
Estapor® Intense Microspheres: Revolutionize Multiplexing in Lateral Flow Tests
Unlock the potential of multiplex assays with our cutting-edge Estapor® Intense Microspheres. These innovative microspheres are specifically designed to boost the functionality of lateral flow tests, allowing for the simultaneous detection of multiple analytes on a single test strip. Each analyte is distinctly identifiable by microspheres colored in red, blue, or black, enhancing clarity and easing interpretation.
Our Intense Microspheres provide remarkable benefits for your diagnostic needs. They enhance multiplexing capabilities by utilizing multiple test lines on a single strip, each differentiated by a unique color. This not only delivers clear and distinct visual results but also significantly reduces the risk of data misinterpretation, ensuring comprehensive and reliable testing. We’ve compare the applicative performance of the Estapor® Red Intense microspheres with recognized competitor microspheres in a model HBsAg antigen assay in the Estapor® Red Intense Microspheres Performance in Lateral Flow Assay Report.
Moving beyond the industry's traditional colloidal gold standard, known for its visibility but limited to single-analyte detection, our Intense Microspheres enable complex, multiplexed assays. This advancement allows for a broader range of testing without compromising the ease of result readout.
Explore the expansive possibilities and elevate your diagnostic tests with Estapor® Intense Microspheres, your solution for advanced, efficient, and accurate multiplex testing.
Key Advantages of Estapor® Color Intense Microspheres:
- Improved Assay Sensitivity: Experience greater signal intensity, enhancing assay sensitivity.
- Ease of Reading: Achieve easy readability, even at lower conjugate concentrations.
- Multiplexing Ready: Combine Red and Blue Intense for easy differentiation of test lines, leveraging the same surface chemistry to reduce development costs.
- Stable Conjugates: Benefit from easy covalent binding to carboxyl-modified microspheres, ensuring stable conjugates.
- Reproducible Results: High monodispersity and color stability contribute to consistent and reliable results.
- Cost-Effective: Reduce the quantity of all raw materials needed for conjugate production.
- Versatility: Available in two diameters, 300 nm and 400 nm, to suit various testing needs.
Estapor® Europium Microspheres for Lateral Flow Assays
Our Estapor® Europium-labeled microspheres offer a transformative approach to lateral flow assays by providing several distinct advantages over traditional fluorescent microspheres. These enhancements are designed to optimize the performance and reliability of your assays.
Key Features of Estapor®Europium Microspheres:
- Enhanced Sensitivity: Significantly improve the sensitivity of lateral flow assays, allowing for the detection of lower analyte concentrations.
- Reduced Background Fluorescence: Drastically minimize interference from background fluorescence, ensuring clearer and more accurate readings.
- Improved Readability and Quantification: Simplify the process of assay evaluation with microspheres that make results easier to read and quantify.
- Extended Stokes Shift: Benefit from a much longer Stokes shift compared to traditional fluorescent labels, which enhances the separation of excitation and emission wavelengths and reduces spectral overlap.
- Superior Fluorescent Quantum Yield: Our microspheres exhibit an enhanced fluorescent quantum yield, facilitating a low detection limit and increasing the assay's overall sensitivity.
- Carboxylated Surface: Each microsphere is functionalized with a carboxylated surface, ideal for efficient protein conjugation, ensuring stable and specific binding of biomolecules.
- Versatile Size Options: Available in three different sizes to suit a variety of assay designs and requirements.
Schematic of the Excitation and Emission profile of Europium. Max excitation and emission wavelengths indicated on each peak. Note: the very narrow emission peak, as well as the large Stokes shift of the fluorophore.
Estapor® Magnetic Microspheres are the preferred choice for many Chemiluminescence Immunoassay (CLIA) and bio-separation based diagnostic manufacturers. Serving as the core material in most CLIAs, these magnetic microspheres excel in capturing the analyte of interest while protecting the bound complex during the various washing steps of a standard CLIA protocol. Depending on the specific analyte, the microspheres can be customized with a carboxyl coating or a different conjugate to enhance antibody binding.
Leveraged by internationally recognized brands in millions of assays worldwide, our microspheres are highly characterized and adaptable to both manual and automated platforms. They are designed to meet the exacting needs of IVD manufacturers with a focus on customization and key performance features.
Considerations When Selecting Microspheres for CLIA Assays:
- Size: Optimal dimensions for target analyte capture.
- Composition: Material properties tailored to diagnostic requirements.
- Coating Procedure: Enhanced techniques for improved binding efficiency.
- Antibody Selection: Compatibility with chosen antibodies to ensure high specificity and sensitivity.
Estapor® magnetic microspheres serve as the foundation upon which the chemiluminescent reaction occurs, while allowing for easy separation and washing.
Estapor® Microspheres are integral to the efficacy of Latex Turbidimetric Immunoassays (LTIA) and Latex Agglutination Tests (LAT). These tests utilize particles or microspheres coated with antigens or antibodies that specifically interact with a target biomarker or pathogen. When a clinical sample is introduced, the presence of the biomarker triggers particle aggregation, forming antibody/antigen–biomarker complexes. These complexes precipitate, enabling the rapid and straightforward determination of biomarker concentration through turbidimetry, or the visual detection of the biomarker through agglutination techniques.
Our portfolio of microspheres is well-recognized and established, having demonstrated success across various applications. These microspheres are highly characterized and dimensionally uniform, ensuring exceptional lot-to-lot reproducibility. They are versatile enough to be adapted for both manual procedures and automated instrumentation platforms, making them ideal for a wide range of diagnostic settings.
Custom Estapor® Microspheres Tailored to Your Needs
We understand that every immunoassay has its unique requirements. That's why we provide an extensive portfolio featuring over 100 different microsphere types, ensuring that you find the perfect match for your diagnostic tests.
If our existing range doesn't meet your specific needs, don't worry! Our dedicated R&D team is ready to collaborate with you to customize our microspheres precisely for your requirements. Whether it's adapting the size, surface functionality, or coating of the microspheres, we're committed to delivering solutions that make your tests stand out.
Leverage our customization service to tailor microspheres that enhance the performance and uniqueness of your immunoassays. Let's work together to achieve precision and efficiency in your diagnostic applications. Request more information.
Related Resources
- Article: Estapor® Red Intense Microspheres Performance in Lateral Flow Assay
- Application Note: Performance of Estapor® Microspheres and Hi-Flow™ Plus Membranes in a Lateral Flow Assay for Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG)
Estapor® microspheres of 0.478 μm diameter yielded the highest signals, except on Hi-Flow™ Plus 180 membranes. Microspheres of 0.185 μm diameter produced the lowest signals. Intermediate signal intensities were seen with microspheres of 0.228, 0.413, and 0.422 μm diameters on each type of membrane.
- Application Note: Microsphere Coupling—Two-step EDC/Sulfo NHS Covalent Coupling Procedure for Estapor® Carboxyl-modified Dyed Microspheres
The process involves activating carboxyl groups on microspheres with EDC to form an unstable intermediate that quickly reacts with primary amines to create a stable amide bond. However, this intermediate can hydrolyze quickly. To address this, Sulfo-NHS is added to form a more stable intermediate that reacts slowly with primary amines. This two-step protocol allows for the conjugation of proteins to Estapor® carboxylmodified microspheres.
- Application Note: Development of a Quantitative Lateral Flow Test Using Estapor® Europium Microspheres
Lateral flow test strips are advancing to enhance sensitivity in clinical diagnostics. While traditional methods use gold nanoparticles or organic fluorophores, europium chelate microspheres offer improved sensitivity. The protocol details the development of a quantitative lateral flow test using Estapor® Europium Microspheres, applicable to different antibodies for detecting alternative antigens.
- Application Note: Development of a chemiluminescent immunoassay (CLIA) using Estapor® magnetic microspheres
Considerations for immunoassay development include sensitivity, particularly for analytes below 10 ng/mL, where a chemiluminescence immunoassay (CLIA) may be preferable over ELISA due to increased sensitivity and full automation. Estapor® magnetic microspheres, with a proven track record in CLIA assays, are used in the protocol for setting up a CLIA-based assay in a 96-well format, transferable to other platforms.
- Application Note: Development of CLIA for the Detection of the Cardiac Troponin-I Marker
CLIA is a heterogeneous assay format used in high-throughput analyzers for in vitro diagnostics (IVD), offering higher analytical sensitivity than other immunoassay formats. In this method, antibodies or antigens are usually immobilized on superparamagnetic beads as the solid phase, allowing washing steps and reducing potential nonspecific adsorptions, making the selection of superparamagnetic beads a critical factor in the assay's functionality.
- Application Note: Performance of Estapor® Microspheres in a Latex Turbidimetry Immunoassay for C-reactive Protein (CRP)
Latex Turbidimetry ImmunoAssay (LTIA) is a rapid and common test for quantifying specific biomarkers at low concentrations in clinical chemistry labs. It utilizes microparticles to enhance sensitivity, with antibodies linked to latex particles/microspheres to enhance light scattering upon biomarker binding.
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