Update of the EBF recommendation for the use of DBS in regulated bioanalysis integrating the conclusions from the EBF DBS-microsampling consortium.

The European Bioanalysis Forum dried blood spots/microsampling consortium is reporting back from the experiments they performed on further documenting the potential hurdles of the DBS technology. Their experiments focused on the impact of hematocrit changes, IS addition, spot homogeneity, aging of spots and stability of fresh blood and cards. Results from these experiments demonstrate that the issues of DBS in regulated bioanalysis are real and that the technology will need additional improvements to be ready for use as a general tool for regulated bioanalysis. In addition, results on fresh blood and card stability were shared at international meetings and will be reported at a later date.