2023 · British journal of clinical pharmacology · paywalled
A pharmacometrics approach to assess the feasibility of capillary microsampling to replace venous sampling in clinical studies: Tafenoquine case study
Bachhav et al.
The finding, in our words
The study showed that capillary microsampling in children produced pharmacokinetic parameters for tafenoquine that were statistically comparable to venous sampling, with area-under-curve and maximum concentration ratios falling within accepted bioequivalence limits despite slightly higher interindividual variability, and both methods generated identical antimalarial dosing recommendations by weight. This establishes microsampling as a valid alternative for therapeutic drug monitoring and decentralised paediatric trials.
A paraphrase to the Library’s standard, never the abstract. The source is one link away and is always the authority.
Fingerstick capillary sampling showed strong agreement with venous sampling for mycophenolic acid, tacrolimus and cyclosporine A, with acceptable bias and improved agreement for mycophenolic acid after haematocrit correction. This minimally invasive approach may reduce procedural burden and support outpatient or home based therapeutic drug monitoring in children.
This study validated a method requiring only 10 microlitres of serum and found high agreement between fingerstick capillary samples and venous serum for monitoring twelve antibiotics. The results suggest capillary serum sampling is a feasible, minimally invasive alternative that avoids the haematocrit effect associated with whole blood microsampling.
This study found moderate to strong correlations between SARS-CoV-2 antibody levels in fingerprick dried blood spots collected using the hemaPEN device and standard venous serum samples from children and adults. The results suggest that this microsampling device offers a reliable alternative to venepuncture for serological surveillance.
In children with SLE, VAMS finger-prick capillary blood gave haematocrit-adjusted MPA and MPAG concentrations indistinguishable from plasma, and the AUC from VAMS derived plasma-equivalent concentrations matched plasma AUC with R2 0.97. This supports accurate pharmacokinetically guided dosing of MMF using only three timed capillary microsamples.
Zhao et al., The journal of applied laboratory medicine (paywalled) · source ↗
A 2025 review maps 28 microsampling devices, from dried spots and volumetric absorptive tips to upper-arm liquid capillary collectors, and names what a laboratory must control before their results are used: the haematocrit effect in non-volumetric dried samples, interstitial fluid from finger milking, volume, haemolysis and transport stability. Regulators on both sides of the Atlantic ask for the same two things, a device the patient can use safely and a sample fit for the test.