Applications; Dual Photomultiplier Tubes; Microplate Controls - Molecular Devices SpectraMax Paradigm User Manual

SpectraMax Paradigm Multi-Mode Detection Platform User Guide

Applications

The high sensitivity and flexibility of the SpectraMax Paradigm Instrument make it useful for
applications in the fields of biochemistry, cell biology, immunology, molecular biology, and
microbiology.
Typical applications include ELISA, nucleic acid, protein, enzymatic type homogeneous and
heterogeneous assays, microbial growth, endotoxin testing, and pipettor calibration.
Application notes with specific application protocol suggestions can be found in the
Information Center and the Knowledge Base on the Molecular Devices web site at
www.moleculardevices.com.

Dual Photomultiplier Tubes

The SpectraMax Paradigm Instrument is equipped with two photo multiplier tubes (PMTs).
The dual PMTs let the instrument measure two separate emissions successively or
simultaneously, resulting in faster read times and increased throughput.

Microplate Controls

Microplate controls include Shake and On-the-Fly Detection. The instrument can also detect
the height and position of a microplate in the microplate drawer.
Shake
The Shake feature of the instrument permits the contents of the wells in a microplate to be
mixed automatically inside the microplate chamber before each read cycle, making it
possible to do kinetic analysis of solid-phase, enzyme-mediated reactions.
Shake must be selected before you start a read. The process related to the Shake setting
depends on the selected read mode:
In endpoint reads, Shake shakes the plate for a definable number of seconds and then
reads at all selected wavelengths.
In kinetic reads, Shake can shake the plate for a definable number of seconds before the
initial reading, and for a definable number of seconds before each subsequent reading.
The following Shake settings are available for the SpectraMax i3x Instrument:
Intensity: Low, Medium, or High. The actual shake speed is based on the microplate
format.
Direction: Linear or Orbital patterns.
Duration: Length of time in seconds (1 to 60).
Molecular Devices strongly recommends the use of Shake for ELISAs and other solid-phase,
enzyme-mediated reactions to enhance accuracy.
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