*High throughput screening of compounds and targets in Drug Discovery such as FLIPR assays
These devices typically use optical and/or in a few cases lable label-free techniques to evaluate the contents of the microtiter plate wells. An [[ELISA]] plate reader, for example, is used to measure the intensity of the color formed in each well. [[ELISPOT]] plate readers are used to count the colored spots that are formed in the course of ELISPOT assays. Using these plate readers can eliminate (or at least, help reduce) the amount of human subjectivity which goes into evaluating the plate contents. Microplate readers are widely used in research, drug discovery, bioassay validation, QC and manufacturing processes in the pharmaceutical and biotechnological industry and academic organizations.
