ELISAWare™ is a software program designed to retrieve data from a microplate absorbance reader, display them to the user, validate the assay, calculate qualitative results from the data, display these to the user, store sample identifications and results, and report these to the user.

Data acquisition is supported for a number of readers from four different manufacturers. We are not sure just how many different readers will work with the reader drivers in ELISAWare™, but based on customer input we believe that most readers used by our customers will be supported. If your reader is not supported we encourage you to let us know as we are fully capable of adding additional reader drivers and will do so based on demand. Please give us a call at 800-222-8763 or e-mail your reader brand and model to vmrd@vmrd.com.

ELISAWare™ presently supports all of VMRD’s ELISA test kits. As we bring new test kits to market, we will offer ELISAWare™ upgrades to accommodate them. For reasons having to do with stability, complexity, and liability, we chose to build the test validation and calculation into the program rather than to provide some means for the user to enter validation and calculation formulas. This of course means that other manufacturer’s assays are not supported for validation and calculation. The software will retrieve ODs from any supported plate reader for any assay, but it will only perform validation and calculation on VMRD’s assays. Users may retrieve ODs for any assay by choosing the “Generic” test protocol.

In ELISAWare™, Sample IDs are entered directly on a 96-position grid representing the microplate. To prevent confusion of results, calculated results will not be displayed until sample IDs have been entered. In most cases, sample IDs can be copied from a spreadsheet and pasted into the ELISAWare™ sample ID grid. Samples can be separated into groups such as by farm, vet or client. These groups can be used to report results from a single plate, a single run or any result in any run within a specified date range. Because reporting over a date range requires that the group name used be identical in each run, ELISAWare™ keeps a registry of group names and automatically suggests matching group names as the user enters data.

Once ELISAWare™ retrieves ODs it performs validation on the results, verifying that the controls are performing within the ranges specified by the kit insert. If test verification fails, ELISAWare™ reports the reason and displays the ODs but does not calculate results. If the validation failure was caused by something such as mislabeling a well as a control when it was actually a sample, the user can re-designate the well as a sample and ELISAWare™ will automatically re-verify and calculate results if validation passes—without the necessity of re-reading the plate. In fact, the position of all the controls, blanks, and samples on the plate, or even the assay, can be changed and ELISAWare™ will re-verify and re-calculate with each change without the necessity of re-reading the plate. Another of ELISAWare’s™ handy features is the tooltip that displays the OD and calculated result when a user hovers the cursor over a sample ID, and displays the sample ID and calculated result when a user hovers the cursor over the OD.

Storing, aggregating, and displaying data is the ultimate purpose of ELISAWare™. These functions necessitate some sort of database. We chose a Microsoft® Access® database for its speed, prevalence, and reliability. Advanced users may find that they can re-locate this database, or even use multiple databases—and that the database is password protected to preserve data integrity. Ordinary users will be content with storing their runs in the database and using ELISAWare’s™ built-in reporting features. These features include the ability to generate separate reports for each group on a plate, each group in a run, or for a group across multiple runs and multiple tests. There are both client reports, which merely list sample, test date, and results, and analytical reports intended largely for internal laboratory use. These latter additionally show ODs, %I or S/P, test used, read date, etc. While we based these report layouts on customer input and our own experience, we expect that, as ELISAWare™ is used in the field, customers will help us fine tune them for maximum usefulness. We look forward to your input.

From the perspective of displaying report data, we wanted ELISAWare™ to be as flexible as possible. It is frustrating when reports are only useful for printing; we thought it would be great if one could copy results out of a report and paste them into Microsoft® Word® or Excel®. It is annoying when you cannot get back into the software to check something because a report is open. We thought it would be convenient to have reports open in a separate window. A one-size-fits-all approach to report screen resolutions and font sizes always leaves some users squinting or leaning back for a more distant view. We thought it would be nice if ELISAWare’s™ reporting engine had the flexibility to adapt to different screen resolutions and font-size preferences. Sometime during all this thinking we realized that an Internet browser satisfied all of these requirements. We gave it a try and the more we used it, the better we liked it. We were careful to make the reports as adaptable to different browsers as possible, so whether you prefer Internet Explorer®, Firefox™, Opera™, or Netscape®, ELISAWare™ will display a readable and printable report in your default browser. Furthermore, since the reports are composed of simple HTML, the standard markup language of the Internet, they have great potential for importation and manipulation in many different text-editing, word-processing, and spreadsheet programs.

That concludes our tour of ELISAWare™. We think that the hard work that we have invested has resulted in a good piece of software. However, the opportunity to make it great software lies in your hands. There is no way that we as programmers and assay developers can think of every desirable feature or catch every bug. We encourage you to give us your input on this software—not only by reporting bugs, but by telling us how you wish the software worked. We developed it; we can change it; and we are eager to make it useful to you!