Blood test

Blood tests are often used in health care to determine physiological and biochemical states, such as disease, mineral content, pharmaceutical drug effectiveness, and organ function.

A venipuncture is useful as it is a minimally invasive way to obtain cells and extracellular fluid (plasma) from the body for analysis.

Blood flows throughout the body, acting as a medium that provides oxygen and nutrients to tissues and carries waste products back to the excretory systems for disposal.

[4][5] A basic metabolic panel measures sodium, potassium, chloride, bicarbonate, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), magnesium, creatinine, glucose, and sometimes calcium.

[6] Some tests, such as those that measure glucose or a lipid profile, require fasting (or no food consumption) eight to twelve hours prior to the drawing of the blood sample.

In February 2011, Canadian researchers at the University of Calgary's Schulich School of Engineering announced a microchip for blood tests.

[16] In March 2011, a team of researchers from UC Berkeley, DCU and University of Valparaíso have developed lab-on-a-chip that can diagnose diseases within 10 minutes without the use of external tubing and extra components.

Modern hospital hematology laboratory
A venipuncture performed using a vacutainer
Vacutainer tubes used in the collection of blood. During venipuncture, pressure differences between the vein and the vacuum in the Vacutainer forces blood into the tube.