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This is a type of automated chemical analyser used in the clinical chemistry laboratory. The basic element is a centrifuge rotor which contains a set of cuvettes around the rim which pass between the light source and photometer of a colorimeter as the disc rotates. Thus colorimetric determination of the concentration of particular chemicals in the cuvettes can be made at high speed, and sequential changes in the photometric results as the reaction in each cuvette develops may also be recorded.
The reaction in each cuvette is started as the centrifuge starts to spin. An automatic sample and diluting station loads the correct reagents and samples in separate wells on the centrifuge rotor and as the rotor starts these are drawn down and mixed in the cuvettes.
Since a complete record of the change in the photometric result from each cuvette can be logged (the starting point to the end point of the reaction in each cuvette), it is possible to identify the rate of each reaction. This is particularly useful in enzyme analysis since reaction rate is in proportion to enzyme concentration. See also Reaction rate analyser and Auto analyser.
Content and Design Copyright 2000 Dr. Malcolm C Brown. See Title Page for more details