Development, validation and application of an inductively coupled plasma - mass spectrometry method to determine cobalt in metal-on-metal prosthesis patients using volumetric absorptive microsampling
Capiau et al.
The finding, in our words
Capiau et al. developed and validated a VAMS method for cobalt quantitation in whole blood from metal-on-metal prosthesis patients. The method proved accurate (bias ≤4%) and precise (RSD ≤5%), was unaffected by haematocrit, and showed a 0.99 correlation to liquid venous samples; 87% of results satisfied Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia criteria, enabling home-based monitoring of implant wear.
A paraphrase to the Library’s standard, never the abstract. The source is one link away and is always the authority.
VAMS gave near‑quantitative recovery for cadmium and lead in human blood and correlated strongly with venous sampling, with pre‑cleaning improving correlation and lowering background lead, supporting its use for decentralised biomonitoring of these toxic elements.
Gutknecht et al., Environmental monitoring and assessment (paywalled) · source ↗
This study validated a method for measuring the alcohol biomarker phosphatidylethanol using two volumetric absorptive microsampling devices, finding that the Mitra device met all validation criteria and agreed with venous sampling. The Capitainer device was deemed suitable but showed reduced accuracy at higher concentrations, with a small proportional negative bias compared to venous results.
Andreassen et al., Journal of analytical toxicology (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.
A VAMS method using Mitra devices for whole blood lead quantification showed no significant difference compared with the centre's routine method, supporting VAMS as a practical alternative for blood lead and other trace element analyses.
In whole blood spiked with 90 drugs, the VAMS method using the Neoteryx Mitra device confirmed 87 compounds with identification limits below 12.5 ng/mL for 82.2% of drugs and extraction yields of 80.6 to 108.7%. In 15 poisoned patients, 98% of plasma compounds were detected in VAMS with satisfactory concordance (R2 = 0.827), supporting its use for decentralised toxicology screening.