Collection of blood, serum & plasma

Types of collections

1. Collection of Blood, Serum, Plasma

2. Blood
It is a specialized body fluid and comprises of four major components like
plasma, RBC, WBC and Platelets.
Whole blood -runs through the veins, arteries
Whole blood = 55% plasma + 45% Blood cells
About 7 to 8 percent of the total body weight is blood
pH of the blood ranges from 7.35-7.45

3. Collection of Blood
Materials required
Sterile syringe (preferably disposable one)
Cotton
Alcohol
Tourniquet
Sterile collection tube
EDTA coated collection tubes (if necessary)
Procedure
The area of injection or incision should be cleaned with alcohol.
The needle is inserted parallel to the vein and the tip directed into the lumen
along the longitudinal axis. When withdrawing blood from a vein, aspiration
should be slow, so the vessel does not collapse.
Blood should be collected in a sterile disposable syringe and stored properly.

4. Serum
It is neither a blood cell nor a clotting factor.
To define shortly, Blood serum is nothing but blood plasma with fibrinogens
removed.
Serum includes all proteins not used in blood clotting (coagulation) and all
the electrolytes, antibodies, antigens, hormones, and any exogenous
substances (e.g., drugs and microorganisms).
The study of serum is serology.
Serum is used in numerous diagnostic tests, as well as in blood typing.
After centrifugation, Coagulated blood (clotted blood) yields serum without
fibrinogen, although some clotting factors remain.
Serum = plasma -fibrinogens (and other clotting proteins)

5. Procedure
In general, the clotting process begins when a blood sample is collected from a
patient into collection tube.
A specimen collected in a blood collection tube with clot activator should be
inverted five times to facilitate the clotting process (If necessary).
Allow the blood to remain in the ambient temperature until the clot has formed.
Once the clot is formed, the specimen is ready for centrifugation.
When centrifuging specimens, it is very important to ensure that the centrifuge
is balanced properly.
The samples need to be centrifuged at 1100 rpm for 15 min and the supernatant
containing serum should be collected in a sterile tube for further analysis.

6. Plasma
It is the yellow liquid component of blood in which the blood cells in whole
blood are normally suspended.
It makes up about 55% of the total blood volume.
It is mostly water (93% by volume) and contains dissolved proteins, glucose,
clotting factors, mineral ions, hormones and carbon dioxide (plasma being
the main medium for excretory product transportation).
Blood plasma is prepared by spinning a tube of fresh blood containing an
anti-coagulant in a centrifuge tube until the blood cells fall to the bottom of
the tube.
The blood plasma is then poured or drawn off. Blood plasma has a density of
approximately 1025 kg/m
3
, or 1.025 kg/l.
Plasmapheresis is a medical therapy that involves blood plasma extraction,
treatment, and reintegration.

7. Procedure
The blood sample collected should be centrifuged at 900 g for 15 min at
room temperature.
Remove the tubes from the centrifuge and collect the plasma located on
the top of the blood and transfer to the appropriately labelled
microcentrifuge tubes.
After collecting the plasma, the samples were stored at -80°C