CLINICAL CHEMISTRY

• Clinical Chemistry - the most automated area of the laboratory
• Areas in the chemistry section:

  • Electrophoresis
  • Toxicology
  • Molecular diagnostics
  • Immunochemistry
• Electrophoresis - performs hemoglobin and protein electrophoresis on serum, urine, and CSF
• Toxicology - therapeutic drug monitoring and the identification of drugs of abuse
• Molecular diagnostics - performs genetic testing for the diagnosis and treatment of disease
• Immunochemistry - uses enzyme immunoassay techniques to measure the presence of antibodies in the blood
• Chemistry tests are performed on serum collected in gel barrier tubes, but the serum also may be collected in tubes with red, gray, or royal blue stoppers
• Lipemic - cloudy due to increased lipids
• Icteric - due to excess bilirubin
• Hemolyzed - due to the release of hemoglobin from RBCs
• Serum separator tubes (SSTs) - contain an inert gel that prevents contamination of the sample
• Tests that are performed on plasma are collected in green heparin gel barrier tubes, gray, royal blue, and EDTA gel barrier tubes
• Serum and plasma are obtained by centrifugation, which should be performed within 2 hours of collection