Capillary blood microsampling is a simple procedure that allows participants to draw their own blood in small, precise, useful amounts. This makes it easy to collect samples anywhere, which opens the door for a host of innovations in consumer health and wellness. 

Clinical trials must run smoothly to facilitate the development of new drugs. These trials must be conducted under specific guidelines to abide by the law that protects both the test subjects and the companies conducting trials. Below is a summary of the new Draft FDA Guidance on Pediatric Clinical Assays.

Venipuncture is painful. It's frightening. When you're performing research with, or delivering healthcare to, vulnerable patient populations, it can pose a significant impediment.

Traditional blood draws are particularly unpleasant for children - pediatric patients can't fully understand what's going on. With elderly patients, the very ill, or those in low-resourced regions, other difficulties can arise, such as the inability to make long-distance visits to clinics for blood draws.

The most vulnerable patient populations - elderly patients, children, those in low-resourced regions, and others - tend to have the most significant difficulties with venipuncture.

Working with capillary blood in these contexts can potentially make things easier. However, older methods of dried capillary blood collection, such as dried blood spot (DBS) cards and filter paper, suffer from limitations (most notably the hematocrit bias) cramping their ability to get specimens that can in turn generate high-quality data of the sort that is needed to better serve vulnerable populations in healthcare.

Enter Volumetric Absorptive Microsampling (VAMS^®) technology, the better dried blood collection system behind the breakthrough Mitra^® device. VAMS^® is making capillary blood collection easier for vulnerable patient populations and, for pediatric patients, much less intimating.

Vitamin D acts as an essential enhancer of phosphate and calcium homeostasis. Scientists are familiar with the role the hormone plays in the formation and maintenance of strong bones and teeth in vertebrates. As a hormone, it can be synthesized by the skin after prolonged exposure to sunlight. It is also obtained from a wide variety of animal products such as eggs, cheese, and milk.

Your research matters. It can improve safety and outcomes for untold numbers of people. In order to get precise results from blood samples, you need to follow meticulous processes. Any miscalculation can skew an entire project. When monitoring for patients with diabetes, always keep in mind the following.

The makeup of the human body is determined by genes. For every human gene, there are hundreds of corresponding bacterial ones. This is what is referred to as your “microbiome.” The microbiome has a huge impact on your health, including your digestive system and more.