As part of the Delvotest® Accelerator Smart (DAS)'s Working Principle🔗, position calibrations are essential for making sure it is able to consistently and reliably determine the location of a Delvotest® plate's individual plate-wells. In this article, we will guide you through how to execute it.
Required Reference Materials
Before getting started, you will need to make sure to have the following reference materials ready:
- Cut-to-size, matte black paper; and
- Unused Delvotest® plate
Cut-to-size, matte black paper
Get a 190 × 240 mm matte black paper with a weight of 90 g/m². It's important to make sure this cut-to-size paper has a non-glossy (i.e., matte) finish. We recommend using either dark 'copier paper' (i.e., a white piece of A4 paper ran through a copier machine without an image input to produce a 'black' print), or a black cloth.
Unused Delvotest® Plate
Get an unused (i.e., fresh, unincubated, and unbroken, with the foil still on) Delvotest® T or Delvotest® SP NT plate.
❗As long as the Delvotest® is not left at room temperature for too long before, during and after executing the position calibration (c. total 10 minutes maximum), it should be fine for testing later.
Executing Position Calibration
Once the required reference materials are ready, follow these steps:
Setting up
Sign in as the administrator🔗and, in the top-right corner, click on the Calibration tab and then click on the Execute button for the Position parameter's row (see below). This will initiate the interface's step-guide wizard.
Step 1
Activate Service Mode by holding the DAS's physical ⚙️ Settings button🔗 for 10 seconds. Its physical light indicators and display text should change from either Idle (⬜⬜🟩) or Heating (⬜🟦🟩) to Service Mode (⬜🟦🟩). Once that's done, go back to the interface and click on the Confirm button.
Step 2
2.1. Open the lid.
2.2. Cover the heating with the cut-to-size matte black paper.
2.3. Close the lid.
2.4. Go back to the interface and click on the Confirm button.
The DAS should now start the position calibration's first phase, where a progress indicator will show (see below). Wait until this is done before proceeding.
Step 3
3.1. Open the lid.
3.2. Remove the cut-to-size matte black paper.
3.3. Place the unused Delvotest® plate on the heating grid.
3.4. Cover the unused Delvotest® plate with the cut-to-size, matte black paper.
3.5. Close the lid.
3.6. Go back to the interface and click on the Confirm button.
The DAS should now start the position calibration's final phase, where a progress indicator will show (see below). Wait until this is done before proceeding.
Step 4
A report with a Result table and an image of the positioned Delvotest® plate with assigned position values overlayed as text should appear. There are two possible outcomes: either a position calibration has been successful, or not.
❌ If unsuccessful
If the position calibration has not been successful, the values on the Result table usually signifying that all 96 plate-wells have, individually, been properly identified will report a Valid parameter row result of False, with the usual Activate button also not being available, as exemplified below.
In this example, no plate-wells were identified because no Delvotest® plate was inserted. However, in some rare circumstances position calibrations may fail despite steps having been thoroughly followed. If this is the case, you will need to troubleshoot🔗 before proceeding.
✅ If successful
Step 5
If the position calibration has been successful, the following values on the Result table signifying that all 96 plate-wells have, individually, been properly identified should show:
| Parameter | Value | Minimum | Maximum |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of cells | 96 | 96 | 96 |
| Valid | True |
If this is the case, simply click on the Activate button to proceed.
Step 6
The page should then refresh immediately with the Activate button being replaced by an Is Activated text.
Step 7
To continue, click on the Home button above. The page should then refresh immediately, with the following being shown:
Step 8
Then, simply:
8.1. Open the lid.
8.2. Remove the cut-to-size, matte black paper covering the unused Delvotest® plate placed on the heating grid.
8.3. Remove the unused Delvotest® plate placed on the heating grid.
8.4. Close the lid.
❗As long as the Delvotest® is not left at room temperature for too long before, during and after executing the position calibration (c. total 10 minutes maximum), it should be fine for testing later.
🔂 If you have multiple DASes, repeat this process for each.
Next Steps
If you're following the Installation and Setup flow🔗, now that you've calibrated your DAS(es)'s position, simply stay on the same interface screen and check out our next article.
⏭️ Next article: Uniformity Calibration🔗
If you are not doing any other calibrations at this time, press the DAS's physical ⏹️ Stop button🔗 to leave Service Mode, and then, going back to the interface, click on the Home button shown above. This will return you to the Calibration tab, where the Age [days]'s column value in the Position parameter row should now be '0' with a green colour indication🔗signifying the calibration is recent.
💬 Got any questions? Need help? Contact us at support@delvotest.com