Essay On Blood Smear

Blood smear
Blood, the transport connective tissue plays a major role as diagnostic role. It’s a common procedure in medical field to prepare blood samples in diagnosis of certain diseases and abnormalities. Using the blood samples information regarding different white blood cells, their structure and count can be obtained. So that they can be implied in identifying and treating many conditions. “The present methods of preparing blood samples, commonly called blood smears, involves depositing a drop of blood on a glass plate and then wiping the drop to spread it over the surface, producing a thin layer or smear of blood.” (Anon, 1971) Blood smear is a thin film of blood which is used as a diagnostic tool. Though the procedure is simple, it is difficult to obtain a good quality layer. The experience of the hospital technician will decide the quality of the blood smear obtained. Yet, the thickness and degree of spreading of blood might vary from point to point of the smear. The major advantage of preparing a smear is the cells are flattened and in a shape to observe clearly under the

Depending on the climatic conditions the time of air-dry may vary. After letting the blood smear to dry, it is a must to mark the name or the number of patient in the blood smear slide. As the later step, staining of the blood smear is carry out. The frequently used two stains in the laboratory are Leishman stain and Giemsa stain. Leishman staining process is a time consuming process.
1. Blood smear slides are placed on the staining rack and Leishman stain is added using a dropper so that entire slide is covered completely with the stain. Leave for 1-2 min to fix the smear.
2. Buffered distilled water is added (twice the amount of stain), and the slides are left for 10-15 minutes.
3. The slides are washed with buffered distilled water and kept for another one more minute
4. Water is shook off and let to dry the