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Hematology Defined and Centrifuge Preventative Maintenance Tips

In todays edition of the MedWrench blog, I would like to talk about hematology and centrifuges. This blog will aim to define hematology as well as provide some general preventative maintenance tips. See below for an in depth look at hematology and

Tue Mar 18 2014By Jonathan Payne

 

In today’s edition of the MedWrench blog, I would like to talk about hematology and centrifuges. This blog will aim to define hematology as well as provide some general preventative maintenance tips. See below for an in depth look at hematology and some ways you can maintain you centrifuge and prevent it from breaking down.

 

Hematology Defined and Centrifuge Preventative Maintenance Tips

 

Hematology is often defined as a branch of medicine concerning the study of blood, the blood-forming organs, and blood diseases. Hematology is practiced by specialists who deal with the diagnosis, treatment and overall management of people with blood disorders ranging from anemia to blood cancer.

Some of the diseases treated by hematologists include:

  • Iron deficiency anemia and other types of anemia such as sickle cell anemia or trauma-related anemia
  • Polycythemia or excess production of red blood cells
  • Myelofibrosis
  • Leukemia
  • Multiple myeloma
  • Blood transfusion
  • Bone marrow stem cell transplantation

As seen above there are various diseases that are treated by centrifuges. Since there are different diseases requiring the use of a centrifuge, there clearly are various types of centrifuges, depending on the size and sample capacity.  Regardless of what kind of centrifuge your lab is using, it is important to have your centrifuge on a routine preventative maintenance schedule to reduce the risk of safety hazards in the lab.

The rotor is the core of any centrifuge. It contains and spins the material.  Since a rotor failure can generally result in total destruction of the centrifuge, rotors should be inspected regularly and removed from service when they are past their expected lifetime.

Some care and maintenance tips include:

  • Keep a log to calculate hours of use to help determine when a rotor should be derated or retired.
  • Authorized personnel should perform regular inspection.
  • Clean and lubricate centrifuges.
  • Perform a visual check of all sensitive parts.
  • Ensure tubes are balanced.

 

Tips From Bruce Pursell at Ozark Biomedical:

 

Where do I find the Preventative Maintenance info necessary to perform these tips?:

The service manuals for each centrifuge would be the place to start. This is hit and miss. Some are very good and some are not good at all.

 

- Gauge rotor hours of service vs limits (a.k.a.: Mean Time Before Failure - MTBF)

This is constantly evolving. Some newer centrifuges (since 2000) have plastic rotors and a built in cycle timer that will tell you to inspect or replace rotor. The unit may give a error code and not function. once cleared you can continue to run.

Centrifuge rotors have and can be made to last indefinitely with minimal care. But inspections are necessary. Some manufactures put a expiration date on the rotor. This date however does not indicate the rotor needs to be replaced it only means the manufacture will not warranty any defects after this date. It can be misleading and many rotors have been purchased unnecessarily. Some late model centrifuges have a "retire on date" If the rotor replacement recommendation is not based upon a cycle count it doesn't make sense. Some units are used continuously and some very little. A random date just doesn't work for me. We've also found cycle counts that are based on start initiations not run time. This can lead to inaccurate rotor replacement recommendations.

 

- How do I become "Authorized personal" to perform inspections?

There is no formal certification on centrifuges. Follow the manufactures recommendations and if you have questions call the OEM or Ozark Biomedical.

There are so many different models and manufactures it’s difficult to teach.

 

- Where do I lubricate a centrifuge and with what type of lube?

The pivot points on swing out rotors would be where lubrication is needed. Follow the manufactures recommendation on this. We like Superlube at Ozark Biomedical. Its clean, works well and doesn't leave a dark ring around the bowl. We sell it for 12.78 a tube. This will last many years. We have used many lubes over the years including the OEMs. We like this the best.

 

- What are the sensitive parts to inspect and what am I looking for?

Any moving part should be inspected. Hinges, gas lid stays, latches, rotors, and air fans. Also with rotor and cups removed the Motor should be turned by hand and verified to be smooth. If possible hold motor with one hand and push shaft of motor with other hand and see if there is any play in bearing seat. If you hear a clicking sound the bearing has been turning in the bearing seat and a replacement motor will be needed at a earliest convenience. By being proactive with the motor replacement you can avoid a damaged drive circuit. Also by pushing on the motor shaft9 without holding motor) in a10oclock, 2 and 6 you can check the integrity of the motor mounts. If a internal inspection is not performed I recommend testing mounts in this way. Latch parts should be inspected if possible for loose hardware. Many times latches are positioned over a control pcb. A loose screw or nut falling on the control pcb can be expensive. Hinges along with gas lid stays should hold lid up and not allow it to fall on operator. All centrifuges will be grossly imbalanced at some point. The imbalance detector should be verified to work. The motor boot is part of the imbalance system and should be inspected for cracks. Also the lid gasket can cause a great running centrifuge to be noisy due to air leakage. This can also cause the centrifuge to work harder to achieve speeds.

 

- If the user does not know to balance the tubes, they should not be using a centrifuge.

This is true. However I've seen many circumstances of balanced tubes and then an operator gets distracted and leaves an insert out or an entire bucket. Accidents can and will happen as long as human interaction is involved.

 

Need centrifuge replacement parts? Ozark Biomedical can help with all your centrifuge needs.

 

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