Make Entry -- Become an Editor -- Most Popular: (10, 25, 50, 75, 100)

   Help

Microplate Readers

Microplate readers, often simply called plate readers, are lab instruments used to detect biological, chemical, or physical changes and other events in samples that are stored in microtiter plates. Optical and other computer vision techniques are generally used to evaluate microtiter plate contents. In ELISA testing, critical in some AIDS tests, a microplate reader measures the intensity of colors formed after testing.

The use of microplate readers helps reduce human subjectivity and differences in perception when evaluating tests that depend heavily on easily-misread visual information.

The microtiter plate is a flat plate with multiple wells or indentations; each well is used as a "test tube." It typically has six to 1,536 sample wells arranged in 2:3 rectangular matrices. Each well holds a few to a few hundred microliters of liquid. Invented in the 1950s, about 125 million microplates were read in 2000.

In the 1990s, microtiter plates were standardized, enabling more robotic and machine reading of their contents than ever before. This has made microplate readers more and more valuable.

Web Resources On Microplate Readers

Microplate Reader Solutions
LabratoryTalk: Microplate readers

Book Resources On Microplate Readers

Microarrays and Microplates; Applications in Biomedical Sciences by I.N.M. Day
A Guide to Methods in the Biomedical Sciences by Ronald B. Corley

Site Maps: Most Recent | Clusters | Browse
New: Graduate Student Job Opportunity