Implementation of lmproved Beadpool Percent Solids Determination Method

Moisture analysis is used in various industries to ensure the concentrations of critical ingredients meet specifications for the products being manufactured. In the production of microarray products, such as the Illumina Custom Infinium® Genotyping BeadChips, Illumina Inc. utilizes a manual loss-on-drying method to ensure acceptable bead concentration for its genotyping products. This quantification step is critical for determining variance, controlling the concentration of beads for loading on BeadChips, and fulfilling customer requests for custom BeadChips. The lengthiness of the existing percent solids method limits the throughput capability of BeadChip manufacturing. Implementing an improved percent solids quantification method would greatly increase the efficiency of microarray production. This study was performed to develop and evaluate a further automated moisture analysis method as an alternative to the existing manual, thermogravimetric method. Further, this study aimed to show proof of concept of a method employing the Sartorius MA 37 Moisture Analyzer for determination of the percent solids of silica beads used in Illumina products. The Sartorius moisture analyzer method was compared side-by side with the existing Illumina protocol. Through various iterations of instrument and protocol parameter tuning, the Sartorius MA37 Moisture Analyzer method showed promising results as a strong candidate alternative.