Decoding a Plate Reader: What Is It And How Does It Work?

An instrument used in labs to calculate physical and biological reactions and measure chemical reactions, a plate reader consists of small scoops or wells. It is in these wells that different reactions take. Apart from this, a Molecular Devices plate reader can also be used to measure analytes, properties, etc. The reactions that take place inside the well convert the analytes into optical signals through biochemical progressions.

A plate reader is used to assess and evaluate a wide range of chemicals and biological reactions. With the availability of several regent kits, a Molecular Devices plate reader is now used for more purposes than it was traditionally used for. The device is used in pharmaceutical research, biological and biochemical studies, industrial, environmental and academic research, etc.

Talking about its working principle, the light signals created by samples pipetted into a microplate are detected by a microplate reader. These samples' optical properties derive from a biological, chemical, biochemical, or physical reaction. Different analytic reactions produce various visual changes, which are then used to analyze the data. The most common and widely used detection modes in laboratories worldwide are absorbance, fluorescence intensity, and luminescence.

Light signals emitted by a sample, converted by a selection, or transmitted by a specimen are detected using microplate-based measurements. A detector, usually a photomultiplier tube, measures the signal. Photons are converted into electricity by the photomultiplier tubes, which the microplate reader then estimates. The result of this procedure is a collection of numbers that can be used to quantify a sample.

Further, samples have to be excited by light at various wavelengths depending on the nature of the optical signal changes during a reaction and, as a result, the detection mode. A wideband xenon flash lamp is typically used to provide this illumination. A specific excitation filter or monochromator selects the light emitted by the lamp in a Molecular Devices plate reader. This is done to allow only specific wavelengths to excite the sample. On the emission/detection hand, filters or monochromators are used to improve sensitivity and specificity. Between the model and the detector, these are typically mounted.


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