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Updated: Sep 30, 2025

Microfluidic Flow Chambers Using Reconstituted Blood to Model Hemostasis and Platelet Transfusion In Vitro
Published on: March 19, 2016
Rapid serum clot tubes reduce haemolysis due to pneumatic tube transport
Christopher D Koch1, Michael A Vera1, Joe M El-Khoury2
1Department of Laboratory Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Aims:
Pneumatic tube systems (PTSs) are critical for modern hospital operations, allowing for rapid sample transport. Despite widespread use, PTSs can compromise specimen integrity and affect laboratory values. Our objective was to prove that rapid serum clot tubes (RST) provide protective benefits over plasma during PTS transport and can be a practical solution for certain PTS routes.
Methods:
In this study, we compared the effects of PTS transport on cell lysis indicators: h-index, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and potassium (K+), in RST versus lithium heparin gel separator tubes using 10 volunteers.
Results:
In comparison with plasma, RST showed a median reduction in PTS-induced haemolysis of 80.4% (p=0.0049), with a reduction in post-PTS median LDH concentration (49.7%, p=0.04) and K+ concentration (50.0%, p=0.0273).
Conclusion:
This study demonstrates RST tubes can significantly reduce PTS-induced haemolysis and can be recommended for poor PTS routes.
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