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🔬Lab & Specimen Handling

What is centrifugation?

Centrifugation spins blood tubes at high speed to separate serum or plasma from red blood cells — required for many specialty and metabolic tests.

When a blood tube is centrifuged:

  • Serum (from SST/gold top tubes) — the liquid above the clot after centrifugation; used for most chemistry and serology tests
  • Plasma (from EDTA, heparin, citrate tubes) — the liquid separated from cells in anticoagulated tubes; used for coagulation, plasma-based panels, and molecular testing

    • Tests requiring centrifugation must be processed within a defined window (usually 30–60 minutes) before stability degrades.

    Can mobile phlebotomists centrifuge samples on-site?How soon must samples be processed after collection?

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