Vacutainers – a Simple Innovation That Has Altered Medicine Forever

A vacutainer is a form of test tube that was first developed in 1947 by Joseph Kleiner. At first known as the Evacutainer, it made use of a special vacuum system, a needle and a test tube to take samples of blood from people.

Kleiner introduced his state of the art development to Becton, Dickson and co., and it was subsequently patented in 1949. It was eventually re-branded the Vacutainer, as it is still called today.

At the time of its first production, the Vacutainer system had a few distinct advantages. It was far more convenient for users, it cut down on staffing costs noticeably and there were a lot fewer breakages because the tubes were made from a tougher kind of glass.

The original patenting of the Vacutainer in 1949 coincided with the unveiling of Becton, Dickson’s second production plant in the USA. In 1950, the company’s revenues reached 15 million.

Vacutainers are usually used in the process of drawing blood from a person for examinations. When a Vacutainer is used to draw blood from a patient, the blood vessel is punctured by a hypodermic needle. This needle is contained in a plastic tube, which also has a needle on the opposite end that is held in a plastic holder.

All Vacutainer containers have a rubber cap. When the time comes to take blood from the patient the container is pressed onto the needle in the holder so it punctures the cap. The difference in pressure then draws blood from the patient into the test tube until it is full. The container of blood can then be taken away for examination. If needed, a new test tube can be put onto the needle for an additional blood sample.

Often the vessels that are used in the Vacutainer system already hold certain substances. These substances generally are essential in the testing of blood, or have some other purpose. For instance, a test tube may contain a substance that will help preserve some elements in the blood, or a substance which helps in separating the blood cells from the serum.

In general, a Vacutainer container will hold coagulants, anti-coagulants, or contain no additive at all. There are numerous different types of additives used in the process, depending on the cause for the blood test. If a test tube with the wrong additive is used, it may render the blood test useless.

Therefore, the test tubes’ caps are coded with different colors, depending on which kind of additive they contain. The color-code system is standardized across all Vacutainer makers to stop confusion.

As well as being color-coded, the Vacutainer test tubes’ caps can either be opaque or translucent. This illustrates whether the usual suction level is being used (opaque) or, in the case of clear caps, a weaker suction is suitable. Weaker suction levels are usually more suitable for smaller veins.

Tagged as: 2, altered medicine, blood draw tube colors, blood drawing tubes, blood draws different tubes, blood test charts with vacutainers, blood test tubes colors, blood test tubes guide, blood tests vacutainers which colour for which blood test, blood tube color chart, blood vacutainers, can blood come out of a vacutainer needle, can vacutainers be used if they have been punctured, cap colors vacutainer, chart drawing the wrong blood tube, chart for vaccutainers, color codes for blood test tubes, color codes for vacutainers blood draw, color coding vacutainers, color coding vacutainers veterinary medicine, color guide to blood tubes, color guidelines for vacutainers, color of tubes for drawing up blood, color of vacutainers, colour coding of vacutainer types ppt, different additives used in vacutainers, different colour vacutainer for different test, different vacutainers, drawing blood type, drawing from test tube needle, f, guide of vacutainer colors and the tests they are used for, guide to blood draw tubes colors, guide to blood tests and vacutainers, Health and Fitness, how are vacutainers made, how are vacutainers manufactured?, how much does a vacutainer hold?, how to extract blood from vacutainer, how to process vacutainer tube, how vacutainers are made, illustrate the different test tube in vacutainer, in 1950 life forms made in test tubes were called, innovation blood test without needle, international color code for vacutainers, joseph cleaner vacutainer, needle for vacutainers, needles used for vacutainers, plastic hubs for drawing blood, plastic hubs for drawing blood look like, production of vacutainers, simple innovation, standardized Vacutainer tube colors, test tube cap color code info, testing tube colors for drawing blood, the use of different colour vacutainers, tube colors for blood draw, tube colors for drawing blood, tube needle paint sampling, types and colour of vaccutainer, types of blood vacutainers, types of vacutainers, USED TO HOLD VACUTAINERS, vacuatiners and blood draw, vacutainer additive tube guide, vacutainer bleeding systems, vacutainer blood draw tube guide, vacutainer color, vacutainer colors, vacutainer guide, vacutainer guide -filetype:pdf -filetype:ps -filetype:dwf -filetype:kml -filetype:kmz -filetype:xls -filetype:ppt -filetype:doc -filetype:rtf -filetype:swf, vacutainer guide to tests and colours, vacutainer holder colors, vacutainer needle manufacturig process, vacutainer production, vacutainer still branded?, vacutainer system color chart, vacutainer system developed, vacutainer tube body colors, vacutainer tube colors, vacutainer tube guide, vacutainer tube guide -filetype:pdf -filetype:ps -filetype:dwf -filetype:kml -filetype:kmz -filetype:xls -filetype:ppt -filetype:doc -filetype:rtf -filetype:swf, vacutainer tube guide tests is used, vacutainer tube guide to lid colors, vacutainer tube system of color coding, vacutainer tubes, vacutainer tubes process, vacutainer types, vacutainers and what they contain, vacutainers chart, vacutainers different types, vacutainers types, veterinary vacutainer colors, what are the vacutainer tubes colors used in the vet, what color vacutainer is used, what do color coded needles indicate when drawing blood, what is a vacutainers and what is it used for, what tube do you draw blood type in, when are vacutainers used in medical office, when was vacutainer system developed, why are vacutainers different colors, wrong vacutainer