Poster: A Novel Dried Matrix Microsampling Device that Eliminates the Volume Based Hematocrit Bias Associated with DBS Sub-punch Workflows (Phenomenex)
Dried blood spots (DBS) have gained attention as a microsampling tool due to the small blood volumes required, simplicity, low cost, and ease of transport. In a typical DBS workflow a small disk of the spotted and dried blood spot is punched out. These “sub-punches” are assumed to contain a fixed volume of blood. However, the viscosity of blood has a positive correlation with the hematocrit (HCT) or packed cell volume (PCV) of the blood. Therefore, if a uniform volume of blood is placed onto a DBS card then the size of the spot formed will decrease as the hematocrit of the blood increases. This leads to a volumetric assay bias that is associated with the hematocrit of the blood sample.
In order to overcome this volumetric assay bias we have developed a novel microsampling technology that is designed to allow for precise volumetric absorptive microsampling (or VAMS™). We then illustrate the use of the tool in the collection and analysis of blood samples following the approach of drying the samples and extracting them in a fashion similar to current practice with DBS cards.
