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laboratory centrifuge has 5 parts. It’s functions and working principle is that it rotates at the speed of 3600 rev/min. At this speed, it centrifugal force separates two different substances on the basis of different masses. Laboratory centrifuge has 5 types.
5 main components of a laboratory centrifuge machine
- Centrifuge Head or Rotator
- Driveshaft
- Timer
- Speed controller
- Tachometer
Principle of laboratory centrifuge
The centrifuge machine works on the principle of centrifugation. A centrifuge in a medical laboratory rotates and creates a centripetal force. This rotation pushes the heavy-weight substance to separate out along the radial direction at the bottom of the tube.
what is a centrifuge used for?
A centrifuge is an important laboratory machine or equipment. Its uses are here.
- It separates particles from samples such as blood or urine. This gives cell-free plasma or serum for different tests or microscopy.
- A centrifuge is used to separate two different kinds of liquids with different densities. For example, separating lipid components chylomicrons from other components of plasma or serum.
Why is laboratory centrifuge important in microbiology?
It is important in the clinical laboratory. If we talk about the serology section, the serum is used for tests like PT (Prothrombin Time), and APTT (Activated prothrombin time). In the whole blood sample, we used a centrifuge machine to separate blood components like RBC (Red blood cells), WBC (White Blood cells), and platelets from plasma.
In the chemistry section of the laboratory, we use the serum for tests like sugar, lipid profile, cardiac marker, and others. Thus serum is separated by it.
What are the 5 Types of laboratory Centrifuge?
It has 5 basic types. fixed angle or angle head is the most common centrifuge in the clinical laboratory.
Horizontal head or Swinging bucket type Centrifuge
A horizontal head centrifuge is the first type of centrifuge, which allows the tubes to assume a horizontal plane when the rotor is in motion and a vertical position when it is at rest condition. It distributes the sediments uniformly against the bottom of the tube. Mainly used to separate the erythrocyte from plasma.
Fixed angle Centrifuge
THIS kind of centrifuge has Tubes. Which are fixed in position. 25 to 40 angle between these tubes. Heavy particles move out words horizontally, but strike the side of the tube. As the speed of the rotor slows down, the sediments slid down by gravity. This allows rapid sedimentation of small particles, as the fixed angle rotor can be run at high speed.
Axil type Centrifuge
It allows the tubes to rotate in a vertical orientation.
Ultra Centrifuge
It is a high-speed centrifuge. It uses a fixed head rotor.
What is a centrifuge used for in a lab?
- The centrifuge is used to separate substances from liquids. For example, we separate plasma from the blood.
- Centrifuge use isolates DNA or RNA of different viruses like HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), HBV, HCV for PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) study.