Final answer:
A Tiger-Top Vacutainer is used for blood sample collection, facilitating serum separation from the clot via a gel barrier after clotting and centrifugation. During the waiting period, clotting occurs, allowing the serum to be separately harvested for analysis.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Tiger-Top Vacutainer, also known as a Serum Separator Tube (SST), is a blood collection device used to obtain serum for various laboratory tests. When a blood sample is collected into a Tiger-Top Vacutainer, it contains a clot activator and a gel for serum separation. After the blood is drawn, the tube is left to stand upright for about 30 minutes to an hour to allow clotting. During this time, the blood cells clot, and the clear liquid on top of the clot is the serum. The tube is then centrifuged, which causes the gel to move upward, creating a barrier between the serum and the clotted blood. This allows the lab technician to easily separate the serum for testing, minimizing the risk of contaminating the specimen with cells or other components of blood.
To summarize, during the waiting period, blood collected in the glass tube clots, and the serum, which is the liquid component that remains after blood has clotted, is harvested for further analysis. The serum is used for a variety of tests because it does not contain white or red blood cells, platelets, or clotting factors, which can interfere with the results of the analysis.