One: Plain Red Top Tube (No Additive Tube)
The inner wall of the blood collection tube is evenly coated with an agent (silicone oil) that prevents wall hanging.
It uses the principle of natural coagulation of blood to make the blood clot, and after the serum is naturally precipitated, it is used by centrifugation.
It is used primarily for serum biochemistry (liver function, kidney function, cardiac enzymes, amylase, etc.), electrolytes (serum potassium, sodium, chloride, calcium, phosphorus, etc.), thyroid function, drug testing, AIDS testing, tumor markers, and serum immunology.
Two: Red top tube (Clot Activator Tube)
The inner wall of the blood collection tube is evenly coated with silicone oil to prevent wall hanging, and a clot activator is added.
The clot activates fibrinase, which turns soluble fibrin into insoluble fibrin polymorphs, thus forming a stable fibrin clot—generally used for emergency biochemistry.
Three: Yellow top tube (SST Serum Separation Tube)
The tube wall is siliconized and coated with procoagulant to accelerate blood coagulation and shorten the test time.
The tube is lined with separating gel, which has a good affinity for isolation; generally, even in ordinary centrifuges, the separating gel can completely separate the liquid component (serum) and solid component (blood cells) of the blood and accumulate in the tube to form a barrier.
No oil droplets are produced in the serum after centrifugation, so it does not clog the machine.
It is mainly used for serum biochemistry (liver function, kidney function, cardiac enzymes, amylase, etc.), electrolytes (serum potassium, sodium, chloride, calcium, phosphorus, etc.), thyroid function, drug testing, AIDS testing, tumor markers, PCR, TORCH, serum immunology testing, etc.
Four: Purple top tube (EDTA Tube)
Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid is a polycarboxylic amino acid that can effectively chelate calcium ions in the blood.
Chelating calcium will remove calcium from the reaction point, preventing and terminating the endogenous or exogenous coagulation process, thus preventing blood clotting.
Compared with other anticoagulants, it has less effect on the coagulation of blood cells and the morphology of blood cells, so EDTA salt (2K, 3K, 2Na) is usually used as an anticoagulant.
It is used for general hematology (routine blood) tests and blood ammonia tests. It cannot be used for blood coagulation or trace element examination.
Five: Green top tube (Heparin Tube)
Contains heparin sodium or heparin lithium blood collection tubes, heparin is a mucopolysaccharide containing sulfate groups with a strong negative charge, with enhanced antithrombin III inactivations of serine protease, thereby preventing the formation of thrombin, and has a variety of anticoagulant effects such as preventing platelet aggregation. Heparin tubes are generally used for emergency biochemistry, TORCH, and blood rheology testing.
When testing sodium ions in blood specimens, sodium heparin tubes should not be used to avoid affecting the test results.
It can also not be used for white blood cell counting and classification because heparin will cause leukocyte aggregation.
Six: Blue top tube (Sodium Citrate Tube)
Sodium citrate chelates with calcium ions in the blood sample and acts as an anticoagulant, the ratio of anticoagulant to blood is 1:9, mainly used for fibrinolytic system (prothrombin time, prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, fibrinogen).
When collecting blood, attention should be paid to the collection of sufficient blood (2ml) to ensure the accuracy of test results; blood should be immediately inverted and mixed 8-10 times after collection.
Seven: Black top tube (ESR Tube)
The volume ratio of anticoagulant to blood is 1:4, generally used for blood sedimentation tests; when the ratio of anticoagulant is too high, the blood is diluted and can accelerate the blood sedimentation.
When collecting blood, you should take enough blood (2ml) to ensure the accuracy of the test results; blood should be immediately inverted and mixed 8-10 times after collection.
Eight: Grey top tube ( Glucose Tubes)
Sodium fluoride is a weak anticoagulant with good prevention of blood glucose degradation and is an excellent preservative for blood glucose testing, care should be taken to invert and mix slowly when using.
It is generally used for blood glucose testing and cannot be used for urea determination by urease method or for testing alkaline phosphatase and amylase.
