Time is of the essence when it comes to accurate and fast results for treating patients. Fast clotting following blood collection allows crucial minutes to be saved.

The best of both worlds

Heparinised plasma is often used as an emergency tube as there is no need to wait for clotting. Serum is sometimes indispensable in emergency departments and this is precisely where VACUETTE® CAT Serum Fast Separator Tubes can save enormous amounts of time. The VACUETTE® CAT Serum Fast Separator Tube combines the speed of a plasma tube with the advantages of serum quality in terms of erythrocytes remaining after centrifugation. It allows clotting of the whole blood sample to be continued in just five minutes, this considerably shortening the preanalytical process.

Reduced turnaround time (TAT)

The quality of a laboratory is often measured by how many samples can be processed within a given time. The indicator is the turnaround time (TAT), i.e. the time between blood collection and receipt of the results. That time is significantly reduced by using the VACUETTE® CAT Serum Fast Separator Tube.

Thanks to the short clotting time of just five minutes, followed by centrifugation for five minutes, the analysis of key clinical chemical parameters can begin after just ten minutes, allowing reliable results to be attained far quicker. This makes it easy to effectively reduce turnaround time (TAT) by 30 minutes per sample and targeted treatment can be initiated more rapidly (depending on the centrifugation conditions).

Optimised clotting process

The interior of the shatter-proof VACUETTE® CAT Serum Fast Separator Tube is coated with a mixture of blood clot activator and thrombin. The tube contains a gel that forms a stable barrier between the serum and the solid components. Thrombin in the additive speeds up the clotting process in the blood sample.