Did you know there are now over 40 commercially available technologies for patient-centric blood sampling, focusing on microsampling rather than traditional venipuncture and vacutainers? I would have guessed less than half that number if I hadn’t consulted the Patient Centric Sampling Interest Group website. I suspect there have been one or two new additions to the technologies listing since last year as well.
This highlights the current activity in our bioanalytical community around microsampling in the clinical space. Recently, the PBSS Online Symposium “Patient Centric Blood Sampling for Facilitating Decentralized Clinical Trials” provided an engaging overview of the potential for clinical microsampling:
The symposium also addressed the challenges of bridging capillary whole blood micro-samples to traditional bioanalytical samples (e.g., for PK assay support), as well as laboratory and collection/shipping logistics and metadata integrity. However, it was encouraging to hear the enthusiasm from the regulatory perspective (FDA) for patient-centric sampling and decentralized clinical trials. This motivates us to persevere and tackle the remaining obstacles to make microsampling a routine bioanalytical strategy.
If you’re looking for a resource on clinical microsampling, I highly recommend visiting the PCSIG website and exploring the content. There are also a couple of upcoming free webinars in November and December that can help you stay updated on progress and practical applications.