2024 · European journal of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive biology · paywalled
Proof-of-concept study: Remote capillary blood collection for hCG analysis in early pregnancy
Joyce et al.
The finding, in our words
The study found excellent agreement between hCG levels measured in remotely collected capillary blood and standard venous samples, with a near-perfect correlation. This demonstrates that remote self-collection is a feasible and acceptable alternative for serial pregnancy monitoring, reducing the need for clinic visits.
A paraphrase to the Library’s standard, never the abstract. The source is one link away and is always the authority.
Home DBS sampling gave testosterone results that agreed well with venous blood in men on intramuscular testosterone undecanoate, but showed falsely high values in those using topical gel, likely from skin contamination. Patients preferred home collection for its convenience, suggesting DBS is viable for decentralised monitoring of injectable testosterone if patients are taught proper technique.
The TAP device showed near perfect agreement with venous sampling for anti-Müllerian hormone measurements, with higher accuracy and lower pain compared to ADx card. This validates TAP as a reliable option for patient-led fertility hormone testing at home.
Capillary fingerstick sampling showed high correlation and agreement with venous sampling for serum AMH but with proportional bias, so it may improve access to testing yet should not be considered fully interchangeable without further validation.
In a cohort of 62 participants evaluating home self-collection with the TassoPlus device, 38 returned samples, with 29% excluded due to insufficient plasma volume below 200 ΔL. Although viral load measurements in adequate samples correlated well with conventional testing (r = 0.800), the high failure rate and missed detection in low-volume viremic samples indicate that further technical refinements are necessary before clinical adoption.
Earlobe capillary microsampling of 100-250 µL found good agreement with venous draws for progesterone, concordance 0.911, and 17β-estradiol, concordance 0.919, across menstrual cycles, showing suitability for decentralised monitoring. However, participant-reported burden was not assessed, and further validation is required in elite athletes.