2020 · Journal of chromatography. B, Analytical technologies in the biomedical and life sciences · paywalled
Application of Dried Blood Spot Cards combined with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry to determine eight fat-soluble micronutrients in human blood
Rubió et al.
The finding, in our words
Rubió et al. validated an LC-MS/MS method for quantifying eight fat-soluble micronutrients from dried blood spots, with extraction recoveries exceeding 72 per cent and detection limits in the hundred-nanomolar range. By demonstrating results aligned with expected plasma concentrations and systematically examining haematocrit effects, the work establishes a foundation for decentralised, patient-centric monitoring of vitamin and antioxidant status.
A paraphrase to the Library’s standard, never the abstract. The source is one link away and is always the authority.
Capillary dried blood spots, after haematocrit-dependent conversion, showed good agreement with plasma for 25-hydroxyvitamin D quantification, with 90 per cent of results within 20 per cent of plasma and substantial to almost perfect agreement in status classification, supporting reliable home self-collection for large-scale vitamin D monitoring.
Heughebaert et al., Clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine (paywalled) · source ↗
Capillary finger-stick dried blood spots demonstrated strong analytical agreement with venous serum for prostate-specific antigen (R² = 0.987) and remained stable for 31 days across a wide temperature range. This less invasive microsampling approach enables at-home self-collection, supporting decentralised screening and tele-diagnostics for prostate cancer.
van Vugt 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.
The review finds that microsamples are amenable to high throughput proteomics using targeted and untargeted methods but quantification remains an issue and practices are heterogeneous, with no standard procedure for protein quantification; standardising collection and quantification would enable large clinical cohorts.
Microsampling enables less invasive, patient-centric self-collection of capillary blood for remote monitoring of metabolites and lipids, overcoming conventional venipuncture constraints. Recent device innovations address dried blood spot limitations, particularly haematocrit and volume variations, expanding decentralised applications in population health, drug discovery and multi-omics research.