Novel membrane devices and their potential utility in blood sample collection prior to analysis of dried plasma spots.

Background: Construction and application of a novel membrane substrate dried plasma spot (DPS) card is described. Results/methodology: The online automation compatible prototype DPS card employs a membrane filter to remove red blood cells from whole blood for the collection of plasma. The described autoDPS card provides acceptable quantitative precision and accuracy data from plasma filtered from 45% hematocrit whole blood. When significantly lower or higher hematocrit (30 and 60%) whole blood fortified with guanfacine is applied, the quantitative precision and accuracy data fall outside regulated 15/20 bioanalytical acceptance criteria. Conclusion: The described prototype DPS card works well for normal hematocrit whole blood, but further development is needed for samples of much lower or higher hematocrit.