STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES FOR RHUEMATOID FACTOR

1. SPECIMEN:

1. Plasma or Serum

2. MATERIALS & REAGENTS

1. Materials:
   1. RF Latex Direct Reagent
   2. Positive Control Serum
   3. Negative Control Serum
   4. 6- Well Test Slide
   5. Disposable Pipettes
   6. Product Instructions
   7. Test Tubes (for quantitative method)
   8. Serological Pipettes
   9. Laboratory Rotator (optional)

2. Reagents:

1. RF Latex Direct Reagent
2. Positive Control Serum
3. Negative Control Serum

3. PROCEDURE:

1. Bring all reagents and specimens to room temperature.
2. Shake the latex reagent gently, expel the contents of the dropper and refill.
3. Deliver on drop (50 ul of patient sample to a circle on the test slide. Use a new pipette for each sample.
4. Using the dropper provided, place a drop of the latex reagent next to each specimen on the test slide.
5. Mix each specimen and latex with a disposable stirrer and spread over he entire surface of each circle.
6. Rotate the slide (80 - 100 r.p.m.) for 2 minutes.
7. Examine under a bright light source for the presence of agglutination
   1. Agglutination (clumping of the latex particles) indicates a positive result. A weakly reactive serum produces a very fine granulation or partial clumping.
   2. The absence of agglutination indicates a negative result.
8. Prepare lab report of the observations.