Which centrifuge is used to produce a monolayer of cells?

• A. Cytocentrifuge
• B. Horizontal head centrifuge/swinging bucket
• C. Fixed/Angle-head centrifuge
• D. Ultra centrifuge

Answer: (A)

Creating a single, thin layer of cells on a slide is essential for clear microscopic evaluation of morphology. A cytocentrifuge is designed for this task. It uses the cytospin technique, where a small volume of specimen is placed in a chamber with a slide and spun at moderate speeds. The forces drive cells onto and spread them evenly across a defined area, yielding a monolayer that makes nuclear and cytoplasmic details easier to assess and reduces overlapping cells.

Other centrifuges aren’t optimized for depositing cells as a uniform sheet on a slide. A swinging-bucket or horizontal-head centrifuge tends to pellet cells at the bottom of a tube or onto a surface in an uneven way, not forming a controlled monolayer. A fixed-angle head centrifuge behaves similarly, concentrating material rather than depositing it in a thin, even layer on a slide. An ultra-centrifuge operates at much higher speeds to separate components by density and isn’t intended for preparing slide monolayers.