Specimen Information

Special collection, incubation, and centrifuge procedures must be followed.  This test uses specialized blood collection tubes.  For complete blood collection and specimen transport instructions, refer to "Quantiferon TB Gold Plus Collection and Processing Instructions" under Resources.

Collection Instructions:

QFT Plus Blood Collection Training video

1.  All 4 tubes (Grey, Green, Yellow, and Lavender) contain Sodium Heparin and therefore must be drawn after any tests ordered for a SST (i.e. follow typical order of draw protocol).

• There is no order of draw within the set.

2.  If a butterfly is utilized for collection and no other testing is required for the patient, a waste tube must be used before filling the first QuantiFERON tube.

• If collecting with a syringe, no discard tube is necessary.  Transfer blood to the set following the typical order of draw.

3.  Allow each tube to fill to the line marked by the black box.  The tubes fill very slowly.  If collecting with a syringe, do not force or push blood into the vial.

• If the volume of blood is above or below the fill line (black box), the entire specimen will be rejected.

4.  Once collected, immediately invert all 4 tubes 10 times to ensure proper mixing.  The entire inner surface of the tube must be coated with blood.  Frothing of the blood is expected.  Avoid shaking the blood vials vigorously.  Doing so could cause disruption to the gel and interfere with test results.

5.   Label the tubes with at least 2 full identifiers. Place labels so that the window of the blood and black box fill line are visible.

6.   Maintain tubes at room temperature (17-27 C) until incubation.  Do not refrigerate or freeze.

7.   Incubate all 4 tubes at 37 C ± 1 C within 16 hours of the collection.  Processing of the QuantiFERON tubes is performed in the lab.