Land O'Lakes Workshop on Microsampling: Enabling Broader Adoption
Wickremsinhe et al.
The finding, in our words
This workshop report provides recommendations on blood sampling sites, bridging study design, and statistical methods for correlation to support the adoption of microsampling in patient-centric drug development. It emphasises the critical need for away-from-clinic sampling techniques to maintain patient safety during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A paraphrase to the Library’s standard, never the abstract. The source is one link away and is always the authority.
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.
Capillary blood collected by fingerstick showed near-perfect correlation with venous samples for HbA1c (R² = 0.993), with 96.7% of paired results differing by no more than 0.2%. Most participants found the kit easy to use at home, indicating potential for decentralised diabetes monitoring when in-person visits are impractical.
Guidance on capillary-to-plasma conversion: method- and analyte-specific clinical validation with paired capillary–venous samples before reporting plasma-equivalent results.
At-home volumetric absorptive microsampling (VAMS) for anti-seizure medicines was feasible and reliable, with strong correlations to clinic VAMS and low bias for lacosamide, lamotrigine and levetiracetam; quantitative dried blood spot (qDBS) was a reliable alternative in the ambulatory setting, though older age reduced sampling quality.
The study found that although participants preferred patient-centric microsampling devices for home use, the agreement with venous plasma for measuring CRP and cytokines was inconsistent, indicating that further validation is required before these methods replace standard venipuncture.