Ordering Information
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Absorbance National Institutes of
Standards and Technology Plate

The complete kit consists of a Performance Verification Test PC Program (Spectrosoft PC), and an Absorbance NIST (National Institutes of Standards and Technology) Plate designed exclusively for filter based Absorbance Readers.*

Instruments can be tested manually using the target absorbance values provided with the Absorbance Standard Plate alone.  This plate was designed for testing and validating the linearity of absorbance filter based microplate photometers.*
Four critical specifications are tested:

The Absorbance Standard Plate can be used on a stand alone basis to check the accuracy and precision of Readers.  The Absorbance Standard Plate comprises 4 reference glasses covering a wavelength range of 405-750nm and an absorbance range of 0.3-4.0 OD.  Catalog #9850015 reference glasses are calibrated at 8 wavelengths:  340nm, 405nm, 414nm, 450nm, 492nm, 540nm, 620nm and 690nm, or your choice of wavelengths.  Catalog #9850016 reference glasses are calibrated at 405, 450, 492, 540, 620nm, or your choice of wavelengths.

The Absorbance Standard Plate comes with the calibrated targeted absorbance values and a Calibration Certificate that provides traceability to National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

The Performance Verification Test Program, (Spectrosoft PC) validates the instrument performance by reading the Absorbance Standard Plate and calculating the accuracy and precision via a PC software program designed for specific manufacturer's instruments.

Precision is calculated by reading the Absorbance Standard Plate a minimum of 20 times at the required wavelength.  After calculating the CV% for all well positions, PC software compares the results with the reference values.  All readings are absolute.  Readings taken from an Absorbance Standard Plate on specialized microplate readers are valid for checking linearity.  Coupled with the reader control program, the user can take many readings over time to calculate linearity as well as accuracy and repeatability by observing the expected readings with the actual.  Any readings out of tolerance may signal a spurious noise, electronic failure, or filter absorbance out if its tolerance range. 

Many Microplate readers used today are designed to read absorbance values from 0.000 to 4.200 OD.  Many of the Finstruments^® Readers and Molecular Devices Filter based Readers can go as high as 4.200 OD. Normal absorbance readers commonly used in most research and clinical laboratories today use Neutral Density cassettes to quickly verify their linearity and accuracy.  Linearity is quickly determined by reading the entire calibration plate (at the selected wavelength) and comparing the readings with the expected.  If the read absorbance readings are within tolerance at both the low end and the high end, then the reader is considered linear. No plotting or graphing is necessary with this method.  Simply read the plate, compare the readings, and verify they are in tolerance. 

Using the Absorbance Standard Plate coupled with Spectrosoft  PC allows the user to verify and record the date, all the filter wavelengths tested, the time, operator name, plate number and instrument serial number, all relevant absorbance readings, store and recall the data, events and the readings from the built-in Spectrosoft database.  Additionally, Spectrosoft can print on most available printers and in-color for graphical display using the built-in graph and curve fit option of Spectrosoft. 

Absorbance Standard Plate (NIST) Catalog #9850015 340-750nm
Absorbance Standard Plate (NIST) Catalog #9850016 400-750nm
Spectrosoft PC Performance Verification Test Program Catalog #6723108

*Instruments must have been sold or serviced by MTX with the last 6 months for purchase of the NIST plate.
            Please check with manufacturer for your specific instrument.