High School

What are the steps to be followed in order to measure blood using a capillary tube and a centrifuge?

Answer :

Blood measurement using a capillary tube and centrifuge involves capillary action to collect the sample, gentle mixing, careful weighing and balancing of the tubes in the microcentrifuge, high-speed centrifugation, and quantification of separated components by packed cell volume.

Measuring blood using a capillary tube and a centrifuge involves several key steps. First, blood is collected into the capillary tube by exploiting capillary action. Once the blood sample is in the tube, it's important to cap the tube tightly and gently mix the sample without creating air bubbles. This could be done by gently flicking the tube or slowly pipetting up and down about five times, taking care not to vortex the sample.

Next, weigh the enclosed capillary (EC) tube and match it with a balance tube to ensure the microcentrifuge is balanced; they should be within +/-0.1g of each other. Once balanced, the EC tube should be spun at high speed, typically for 5 minutes at 13,000 rpm. Lastly, after centrifugation, the sample components will separate, with red blood cells settling at the bottom. By measuring the packed cell volume (PCV) relative to the total volume of whole blood, the components can be quantified.

During this process, it's crucial to take certain precautions such as not exposing yourself to UV light and balancing the tubes in the centrifuge to prevent equipment damage or failure.