ABSTRACT
The analysis of multicomponent systems presupposes the availability of accurate values for the absorptivity of all components at all wavelengths used in the measurement. The determination of reliable absorptivity values for the common haemoglobin derivatives, however, was not immediately followed by straightforward multicomponent analysis (MCA) of mixtures of haemoglobin derivatives. The difference between the absorption spectra of the various haemoglobin derivatives has, from the very beginning of haemoglobin spectrophotometry, been used for the identification of haemoglobin derivatives in solution and for the measurement of their concentration. Multiwavelength haemoglobin photometers are automated photometers for absorbance measurement at a limited number of wavelengths for multicomponent analysis of specified haemoglobin derivatives. With the present tendency to use more overdetermined systems in instruments for MCA it will be possible to use different combinations of wavelengths for analysing different combinations of components chosen at will.
