2026 · Critical reviews in analytical chemistry · paywalled
Integrating Microsampling in Human Biomonitoring: Methodologies, Regulatory Frameworks, and Case Study Insights
Rajamani & Poongavanam
The finding, in our words
This review establishes that microsampling across blood, saliva, urine and stool matrices offers validated workflows and regulatory recognition for human biomonitoring comparable to conventional methods. It finds that these decentralised approaches enhance participant acceptability and enable screening in remote or low-resource settings.
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.
In 20 adults, CRP measured in urine and saliva strongly correlated with serum CRP (Spearman rho 0.886) and was significantly elevated in participants with systemic inflammation compared with controls, suggesting these noninvasive matrices could replace venipuncture for monitoring inflammatory status in remote or at-home settings.
This systematic review of 67 studies involving 34,739 kidney disease patients found dried blood microsampling was mainly used for immunosuppressant therapeutic drug monitoring and kidney function assessment. The approach offered cost savings, was preferred by patients for home self-collection, and provides a patient-centric opportunity to upscale longitudinal sampling and reduce participation bias in decentralised kidney disease research.
Lamond et al., Journal of clinical laboratory analysis · 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 ↗
The review finds that lab-on-chip liquid biopsy technologies are sufficiently mature for distanced cancer screening and follow-up, enabling patient-centric sample collection that reduces exposure risks during pandemics.
Ferrara et al., Biosensors & bioelectronics · source ↗