Performance evaluation tests of lithium heparin tube with mechanical separator

Abstract

The BD Vacutainer^® Barricor^TM Plasma blood collection tube (Barricor) with a novel nongel mechanical separator instead of a gel separator was evaluated. Barricor improves sample quality and within-tube stability, and decreased centrifugation time to 3 min at 4,000 g at the shortest. In this study, blood samples from healthy and normal adults were used to compare the product performance between Barricor, an existing rapid-clotting blood collection tube, and an existing blood plasma collection tube with a gel separator. Overall, the differences in test results were clinically acceptable as the differences do not have a clinically meaningful impact on patient treatment and/or diagnosis. For ALP and TG, the within-tube stability differed between the serum collection tube and the blood collection tubes. For potassium and LD, Barricor demonstrated higher within-tube stability than the blood plasma collection tube with a gel separator. In daily routine analysis, fibrin deposition may cause sampling failure and reporting delay. Barricor, which improves centrifuge time and resolves the fibrin deposition problem, can be beneficial for shortening the turn-around time of daily routine work.