2021 · Developmental cognitive neuroscience · open access
Innovative methods for remote assessment of neurobehavioral development
Gustafsson et al.
The finding, in our words
Remote assessment protocols were developed and deployed across eight research sites in the United States to capture parent-child interaction and biological indicators during the COVID-19 pandemic. The approach demonstrates that adapting in-laboratory neurodevelopmental evaluations for home-based collection enables continued data acquisition with potential advantages over traditional settings.
A paraphrase to the Library’s standard, never the abstract. The source is one link away and is always the authority.
This study used home self-collected saliva samples to successfully monitor cytokines and cortisol in mothers and infants, finding that a community singing intervention significantly reduced salivary interleukin-6 levels in mothers with postnatal depression.
Kirkpatrick et al., Brain, behavior, and immunity (paywalled) · source ↗
Frequent dried blood spot sampling detected early changes in beta-cell function more effectively than mixed-meal tolerance tests or urine ratios, supporting its potential as a decentralised monitoring tool for clinical trials.
Dunseath et al., Diabetes care (paywalled) · source ↗
Worked case studies of patient-centric sampling deployed in pharmaceutical drug development: how sponsors have implemented it, rather than whether it is possible.
Patel et al., The AAPS Journal (paywalled) · source ↗
A study of 292 patients found that the slopes of home-collected stimulated dried blood spot C-peptide levels over six months predicted 12-month venous mixed-meal tolerance test results, P<0.001. This shows decentralised microsampling can monitor beta-cell function, though further validation is required to confirm its reliability and broader applicability.
Hendriks et al., Diabetes care (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.