Centrifugation And Specimen Processing Flashcards
What does SOP stand for?
Standard Operating Procedures
What are the three most important samples in the labs?
3
Bloods
Cerebro-spinal fluid
Tissue
Explain sedimentation.
Heavier objects drift to the base of the tube
Explain centrifugation.
Use of spinning force to rapidly deposit heavier components to base of container
What are the four main applications of centrifugation?
Blood separation
Cells concentration
Cellular components separation
Chemical reactions or test procedures
Why is the purpose of putting blood in a centrifuge?
Blood is spun to separate cells from liquid plasma/serum
What two types of blood may be used in centrifugation?
Coagulated blood
Anti-coagulated blood
What is the liquid in coagulated blood?
Liquid is serum
What is the liquid in anti-coagulated blood?
Liquid is plasma
Why are anti-coagulants used?
They interfere chemically with the clotting mechanism
What are the three main applications of blood separation?
Harvesting of blood products for transfusion
Blood cell concentration for investigation of anaemia and leukaemima
Plasma or serum analysis for biological and biochemical constituents
What is ultracentrifugation used for?
Subcellular fractionation
Nucleic acid analysis
What is subcellular fractionation?
The separation of nuclei, mitochondria, lysosomes and other organelles from cells
What is nucleic acid analysis?
Separate DNA, RNA, plasmids
