template to verify calibration this test must demonstrate the ability to distinguish between 5 000 and 10 000 genomic equivalents with a 99 7 confidence level for a subsequent sample run in a single well detailed instruction for how such a test can be run can be found in applied biosystems document p n 4314333 for an instrument such as the abi prism u00ae 7700 sds installation specifications are verified if the following equation is satisfied the present teachings can be adapted to run a verification test such as the rnase p test and reduce or eliminate user interaction for example this automation can include steps for automatic detection and removal of standard curve outliers and automatic detection and removal of unknown replicate outliers with the end result being a pass fail indication the present teachings can also automatically compute statistics such as a two fold discrimination test the present teachings can be used to perform u201c on the fly u201d diagnostics and instrument control combining all manual methods deployed in the existing rt pcr systems and incorporate expert knowledge to automate and standardize the pass fail testing at each step the present teachings can provide certain advantages such as reducing or eliminating the need for experts during routine calibrations reducing installation and startup time reducing or eliminating calibration errors improving reproducibility of calibration results and decreasing the overall cost of instrumentation by requiring less interaction and servicing by the supplier 39 s engineers many imagers utilizing different technologies can benefit from the present teachings for example any other fluorescent or luminescent array imaging systems employing simultaneous detection of arrays that require calibration can benefit from this methodology diagnostic devices that require an automated approach to critical steps such as fda approved devices.