The first tool to successfully detect and quantify blood contamination in cerebrospinal fluid

The most common procedure for collection of CSF is lumbar puncture, also known as spinal tap, which consist of a needle insertion into the spinal canal, with diagnostic testing purposes.

With relative frequency, lumbar puncture procedure is complicated by the contamination of CSF with blood cells as result of needle trauma, also known as traumatic tap.

The presence of blood cells and the concentration affected of some substances due to blood contamination in CSF can complicate the analysis and confounding the diagnosis.