Technology

Next Generation Dried Blood Spot Sampling

Directly separating cells and plasma

SampleFacts blood sampling cards use a combination of filtering and absorbing membranes. The application of a blood drop results in an immediate split into two fractions, one with blood cells and one with plasma, which are separately dried. Samples collected with a SampleFacts card can be preserved in a compact fashion with no need for low temperature storage. The cell and plasma fractions can both be handled in an automated fashion, punching sample aliquots of a square millimeter or so that suffice for comprehensive molecular analyses.

A future in Healthcare

Our technology holds great promise for de-centralized blood sampling. We unlock the potential of DBS-sampling by instant separation of blood cells and plasma at the point of sampling.

Benefits

Easy transport by mail

Shipping of samples by regular post with no need for cold transport

Separate biobanking of blood cells and plasma

Optimal for biobanking, compact storage at room temperature

Automated handling

Suitable for robotic handling for sample analysis

One card several analyses

Small aliquots of dried blood samples may be used for comprehensive protein analyses (Björkesten et al. Mol Cell Proteom 16: 1286, 2017 )

History of sampling

What is DBS?

The dry blood spots (DBS) sampling method was established in the early 1900’s by Ivar Bang (Schmidt V. Ivar Christian Bang Clin Chem 32:213–215, 1986 ) and in the 60’s Robert Guthrie introduced this technique for large population screenings (Li, W., Lee, M., Li, W., & Lee, M. Dried blood spots. Applications and Techniques, VIII-IX., 2014). Particulary attractive in applications where cost and ease of access are of the essence, the value of this sampling method has been reduced by the undesired mixing of cell and plasma components. DBS sampling devices achieve separation of drops of blood from finger pricks to separate blood cell and plasma fractions before drying, and lend for a wide range of analysis.