The centrifuge, or laboratory separator, has been in use in scientific laboratories for more than two hundred years. Its first uses were for separating cream from whole milk, and that invention was so useful, it was only a matter of time before its benefits would be seen in the scientific and medical laboratory.

The Many Uses Of The Laboratory Centrifuge

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The centrifuge, or laboratory separator, has been in use in scientific laboratories for more than two hundred years. Its first uses were for separating cream from whole milk, and that invention was so useful, it was only a matter of time before its benefits would be seen in the scientific and medical laboratory.

The centrifuge consists of a motor, usually electric, a shaft attached to the motor, and a hub with places for the material containers to be spun. This affair is ensconced within a housing to protect the user from possible flying debris. Things can break during the centrifugation due to the high centrifugal forces involved.

Centrifuges are simple devices, to put it mildly, and are constructed to spin materials at a high velocity, thus provoking the separation of the materials’ components according to their specific gravity. In other words, separating cream from whole milk is as follows: The whole milk consists of water and soluble/non-soluble fats and other solids. The heavier cream tends to flow down the centrifuge container according to the centrifugal force applied by the spinning.

Medical laboratories benefit greatly from this device. Blood plasma and serums are procured by spinning the blood tubes in a centrifuge for a set amount of time. Extracting a pure sample of blood serum is important for the testing procedures, as contaminants like free-floating red cells and cold agglutinins can interrupt or cause false reactions in the testing instrument.

Urinalysis in the medical laboratory also finds a great use of the centrifuge. Components of human urine can indicate possible disease, and the only way to detect those identifying components is to spin the urine down in a special tube, and then examine the resulting material at the bottom of the tube with a microscope. The solids within the urine are pulled towards the bottom of the tube by centrifugal force, so the liquid can be poured off, leaving only a button of material to be examined.

Blood banks need centrifuges that are very large, for large amounts. They deal in blood products that must be separated in great volumes, so giant centrifuges are sued for this. Blood products such as plasma are needed every day in emergency rooms and hospitals around the world, so the processing of these products is needed continuously. Having high-volume centrifuges at work can process these large amounts in a short time.

Pharmaceutical companies also use vast centrifuges to separate chemicals for analysis and production. The extraction of natural botanicals is necessary for the cosmetic industry as well, and centrifuges make this possible. High-output chemical companies need centrifugation for many processes, so they tend to use gigantic centrifuges as well. Geologists and mineral analyzers use specimens that are mixed with chemicals to break down the materials prior to centrifugation. This separates the materials into components that are more easily examined for their chemical make-up.

Centrifuges are clearly a necessary tool in many disciplines and laboratories. Without these simple yet important devices, many scientific and medical principles would be non-existent or very difficult.

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