Note: Biochemical samples centrifuged in-flight on drones.

The ability to conduct en-route centrifugation of samples improves quality and timeliness in the pre-analytical phase. This is demonstrated here on a quadcopter whereby the propellers were adapted to house and apply centrifugal forces to sample-containing capillary tubes instead of incorporating a centrifuge. Tests revealed the ability of the method to separate non-homogenized milk into a cream portion and a skim milk portion, and human whole blood into plasma, buffy coat, and red blood cell components.