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Updated: Aug 5, 2025
Dried Blood Spots - Preparing and Processing for Use in Immunoassays and in Molecular Techniques
Published on: March 13, 2015
A validated method for the determination of hematocrit in dried blood spots using image analysis
Miguel Gambell Barroso1, Louise Gustafsson1, Victoria Barclay1,2
1Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Laboratory, C1:68, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, 141 86, Sweden.
Abstract:
Aim: To develop a nondestructive method for the estimation of hematocrit (HCT) in dried blood spots (DBSs). Materials & methods: Standards and controls were created (HCT range: 0.20-0.50 l/l) and DBS scanned using a flatbed scanner. Gray values and pixel areas were analyzed with open-source software to estimate HCT and volume, respectively. HCT obtained in whole blood using hematological analyzer was compared with DBS scanner method (n = 50). Results: Between-run precision was 4.7-10.2% and between-run accuracy was 89.6-102.1%. In the hematological instrument comparison, 96% of the patient sample results were within ±15%. Conclusion: The nondestructive method can be used to exclude patient DBS samples with extreme HCT levels from further analysis and avoid bias on measured concentration.
