To have a laboratory that works at its best it is necessary to have adequate instrumentation.Whether it is a chemistry, microbiology or analysis laboratory, there are some devices that are essential and must meet mandatory requirements.
Laboratory instrumentation and its main components
The chemical laboratory instruments, like those for analysis or microbiology,they are fundamental because without them medical analyses important for diagnoses could not be carried out, not to mention the entire world of scientific research.
It can therefore be sophisticated analysis instruments as well as simple storage containers such as glassware.The conservation of all these laboratory instruments and devices is very important,as well as their disinfection after using or reconditioning the tools.
The quality of the equipment of a laboratory often defines the quality of the laboratory itself and its work.
Unfortunately, quality often also means high costs.However, having a good knowledge of laboratory equipment can still allow you to save money by choosing the right supplier.Nowadays, the best laboratory equipment can also be found online.
There are very different tools, specific to the type of analysis or result you want to achieve.Let's see what the main tools are, which absolutely cannot be missing in a laboratory.
Laboratory glassware
Most laboratory instruments are made of glass.This is not ordinary glass, but a special composition of silica and boric anhydride called Pyrex.
Pyrex resists thermal changes and high temperatures, as well as chemical substances, and does not release any substances,thus avoiding contaminating the solutions.
Laboratory glassware is divided into non-graduated or graduated objects.
The first type includes beakers, flasks, flasks, funnels, separating funnels, refrigerants.
The second includes graduated cylinders, pipettes, flasks, burettes (volumetric glassware),which must not be heated.
Among the most important characteristics that these devices are required to have are the expansion coefficient and resistance to heat and corrosion.
Here are some of the most common laboratory glassware objects:
- Beuta: it is acontainer usually made of borosilicate glass that can be heated, the shape of which makes it particularly suitable for shaking the contents without risk of liquid leakage, or for prolonged heating.
- Flask: a glass container, not to be heated,shaped like a flask with a flat bottom and very long neck, which indicates the level that the liquid must reach until the volume is the correct one.It is a very accurate measuring instrument, used to prepare solutions and to dilute samples to a precise volume value.
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VIAL: Vials, or vials, are the most common bottles for storing solutions, especially medical or molecular biology solutions.They are generally made of glass,often also yellow in color to protect the solution contained from light.
Apparatus for measuring and mixing substances
A perfectly functioning laboratory must have sophisticated equipment for measuring and mixing substances.
Thermometers are used for measurementand scales, especially digital scales with a single plate, capable of calculating the mass with an extremely accurate sensitivity, much lower than a single gram.
The use of magnetic stirrers is also important, capable of mixing and blending different substances in complete safety,in different ways depending on the substance that is inserted.The stirrer allows you to combine different liquid substances, guaranteeing homogeneous and correctly amalgamated solutions in a single compound.
The stirrers are composed of a magnetic stirrer which, at variable speed,determines the effectiveness of the rotation and therefore of the mixture.
Liquid distillers and extractors, on the other hand, have an opposite function: they allow the individual components of substances to be separated, exploiting their different tendency to volatility (evaporation).
The same objective is also achieved with centrifuges,thanks to special housings for test tubes, as well as for distillation equipment.
The use of incubators is also fundamental,to keep substances or microorganisms at a constant temperature.
Test Tubes
Laboratory test tubes are generally small tubular containers made of borosilicate glass.
They must necessarily resist acids, chemical agents, alkalis and fire.There are different types depending on their use.
The tubes with screw caps can be screwed on to obtain a perfect seal.They can have a conical or round bottom, with a size that varies from 14x100 mm to 26x100 mm.
The test tubes, on the other hand, only have a round bottom, with sizes ranging from 16x100 mm to 30x200 mm.
There are also more particular test tubes, such as those for bacteriology (specific for bacteriological culture experiments),or those for centrifuge, specially tested to resist centrifugal forces, with a size ranging from 12x100 mm to 56x147 mm.
The color of the test tube caps is also very important.Depending on these colors the test tube is suitable for different uses according to an international convention.
- Red: serum tubes Green: plasma tubes
- Purple: ETDA tubes
- Pink: crossmatch tubes for cross tests
- Blue: element tubes intrack
- Grey: tubes for the determination of homocysteine
- Yellow: blood group tubes
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Black: ESR tubes
Micropipettes and tips
Micropipettes and tips can be included among the main instruments to belaboratory.
Micropipettes are used when it is necessary to work with very small quantities of liquid sample, measurable in microlitres.With the micropipette it is possible to select the quantity of sample to be taken, through a size and volume selector located in its central body, where there is also the handle of the device.Micropipettes usually have a cylindrical shape and are made of glass or plastic.
A button generally allows the suction and release of the liquid which occurs via a tip of variable size. Sterile disposable plastic tips are used with micropipettes.Using a second button it is possible to detach the tip to replace it.
These are extremely sophisticated instruments, to be graduated before each use by choosing the quantity of liquid needed to carry out your analysis, between 10 and 1000 microlitres,where a microliter corresponds to one thousandth of a milliliter.
Dealing with such microscopic quantities, the precision of this instrument becomes even more fundamental.
The collected liquid is then immersed in a sample stored in a cuvette to preserve the extracted liquid and carry out an analysiscorrect.
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