Methods for testing the accuracy and thermal reliability of a PCR thermal cycler, and a means for implementing said methods

The invention comprises a method for testing the accuracy and reliability of a thermal unit of a thermal cycler or an enclosure of a PCR thermal cycler thermally controlled by pulsed air, said thermal unit and enclosure thermally controlled by pulsed air including a plurality of locations for reaction mixture tubes, said method including the following steps: a) arranging a set of temperature-measuring sensors in locations for reaction mix tubes selected from within said thermal unit and enclosure thermally controlled by pulsed air, said temperature-measuring sensors including: (i) a reaction tube suited to the type of thermal unit tested, (ii) a selected volume of liquid at least partially filling said reaction tube, (iii) a thermal probe at least partially submerged in said liquid, and (iv) at least one means for linking said thermal probe to a means for receiving a signal generated by said thermal probe, said locations in which the temperature-measuring sensors are arranged being distributed across the surface of said thermal unit such that at least two temperature measurement sensors are arranged in each of the thermal elements included in said thermal unit, or, for the enclosures thermally controlled by pulsed air, at the locations provided for the PCR tubes or capillaries such that at least half of said locations are occupied by measuring sensors, and b) starting the thermal cycler, under normal usage conditions, for at least one cycle programmed with temperature set values for a PCR reaction, and c) at the same time as step b), measuring the temperature values with each of the measuring sensors at a plurality of given moments.