High-Yield Passive Plasma Filtration from Human Finger Prick Blood
Hauser et al.
The finding, in our words
A wedge-shaped passive filter recovered 18 μL of plasma from a 50 μL finger prick sample in under ten minutes, yielding 65% extraction efficiency and 73% protein recovery across a 35–55% haematocrit range. This high-yield device addresses a key barrier to patient-centric blood microsampling by providing sufficient plasma volume for low-concentration analyte detection.
A paraphrase to the Library’s standard, never the abstract. The source is one link away and is always the authority.
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.
Capillary blood collection using liquid and dried microsampling devices yielded pharmacokinetic profiles comparable to venous sampling for two monoclonal antibodies and a small molecule, whereas haematocrit correction was necessary for dried formats and bridging was ineffective for hydroxychloroquine. The findings demonstrate the bioanalytical feasibility and patient acceptability of remote microsampling tools for pharmacokinetic evaluations in decentralised clinical trials.
Mandlekar et al., Clinical pharmacology and therapeutics (paywalled) · source ↗
Self-administered finger-stick blood collection enables routine healthcare assessments without clinic visits, but diagnostic utility depends critically on sample processing and storage. While new materials address haematocrit effects and enable precise low-volume sampling, no single device meets all clinical needs, and plasma separation remains essential for expanding applications.
Baillargeon & Mace, Bioengineering & translational medicine · source ↗
Microsampling reduces sample volume, invasiveness, logistics and biohazard risk while improving stability and enabling at-home self-sampling, yet clinical adoption remains slow and requires standardisation and harmonisation to realise its patient-centric and decentralised potential.
Thangavelu et al., Analytical science advances · source ↗
An IQ Consortium position paper from sponsor scientists positioning patient-centric sampling as the enabling technology for decentralised trials, and stating that a bridging study against conventional sampling “has quickly been established as a regulatory expectation”.
Maass et al., Clinical and Translational Science · source ↗