Evaluation of a new device for rapidly separating serum or plasma from blood.

I have evaluated the suitability of a new device for the rapid and efficient separation of cell-free serum or pbsma from whole blood. Thirty-four clinical chemistry procedures were used in the analysis of 750 paired blood samples. One sample from each pair was processed by double centrifugatlon, the other by single centrifugation with the new device. Differences between means for the paired samples were evaluated by Students t-test. At a significance level of P 0.05, only uric acid, lactate dehydrogenase, lactate dehydrogenase lsoenzyme 2, and CO2 show a statistically significant difference between the two separation procedures. These differences do not appear to be of sufficient magnitude to preclude use of the device in the clinical chemisfry laboratory.