Predicting malfunction and failure of centrifuge umbilicus

A centrifuge configured for rotation of a separation chamber about a rotational axis by an umbilicus, comprising:

• a yoke configured to orbit a midsection of the umbilicus around the rotational axis at a first speed so as to cause the separation chamber to rotate about the rotational axis at a second speed that is approximately double the first speed;
• and
• an optical monitoring system configured to directly monitor the separation chamber, the optical monitoring system including
• a light source configured and oriented to emit a light toward the separation chamber,
• a light detector configured and oriented to receive at least a portion of the light from the light source after said light has passed through the separation chamber, and
• a controller configured to receive a plurality of signals from the light detector when the light detector receives said at least a portion of the light, wherein the controller is further configured to compare a period or frequency of the plurality of signals from the light detector to an expected period or frequency and determine that the umbilicus is experiencing an irregularity when the period is different from the expected period or the frequency is different from the expected frequency.