Liquid sampler DBS A

automaticfor the pharmaceutical industry

In blood analysis, precision, sensitivity and the required sample amount are important factors – along with the analysis time. In all these areas, Dried Blood Spot (DBS) sampling and analysis is a convincing alternative – especially when automated with the GERSTEL MultiPurpose Sampler (MPS). Since the 1960s, Dried Blood Spot (DBS) sampling has been used. Initially, especially neonatal screening for metabolic disorders was performed based on the DBS technique. In recent years, especially since more powerful GC/MS and LC/MS system became generally available, DBS has become useful in pharmaceutical research [1], forensic toxicology and doping analysis [2-4] as well as veterinary analysis [5]. Just a few drops of blood taken from a fingertip are sufficient to perform DBS analysis. The drops are placed onto small circular fields on special cards used for DBS work. As soon as the drops have dried, the cards are used to store and transport the samples, which are extracted directly from the card using dedicated sampling equipment. A DBS sample typically contains between 15 and 30 μLs of blood evenly distributed across the spot. This means that a representative sample – and a defined amount of blood – can be taken by simply punching out a small area of the blood spot. Traditionally, a small, well defined disc of a few millimeters across has been punched out from the blood spot and transferred to a vial or micro-titer plate in which it was extracted using a suitable solvent. The resulting extract was centrifuged and the supernatant cleaned or analyzed directly following solvent exchange.