tacrolimus monitoring: how to improve your patients' experience

Capillary blood microsampling is a technique that has made collection and analysis of small, exact volumes of liquid matrices much simpler. Through capillary blood microsampling, tacrolimus monitoring has potentially become more patient-centered. Here's why you should consider blood microsampling when it comes to tacrolimus monitoring to create a better patient experience.

• Tacrolimus is the backbone to immunosuppression for most organ transplant patients. Tacrolimus levels should neither be too high or too low, but precisely right. Monitoring is easier through blood microsampling as it is less painful and stressful and collects samples with more precision than similar older technologies such as DBS cards.
• Patient-centered tacrolimus monitoring is all about providing care, which is responsive to individual patient preferences. Capillary blood micro sampling makes that possible since the process allows for home sampling. Patients get to give a required amount of blood (or another biological fluid) within a dosing interval without setting foot at the hospital.
• With the use of immunosuppression for patients, it is very important to monitor the levels of tacrolimus. This is because it affects the blood volume level, which is important to maintain. Capillary blood microsampling entails obtaining blood by skin puncture and thus avoids blood volume reduction.
• Capillary blood microsampling using Mitra^® devices driven by VAMS™ is ideal for immunosuppressant monitoring. An immunosuppressant is any drug used to inhibit the natural immune system from fighting a transplanted organ. Application of these drugs requires consistent monitoring to ensure that it is in the right amount for treating the patient. Excess concentration can cause health complications, and too little can be ineffective. With microsampling, it is easy to monitor this while avoiding pain or tissue damage.
• Only a fixed sample is taken, enough to carry out any test in regards to immunosuppression. Therefore, there is no waste in sampling. The process is made easy for both patients and lab technicians through limited invasive blood collection techniques. The comfort for the patient is maintained as there is less pain which increases cooperation

Remote patient monitoring and capillary blood microsampling can even promote increased cooperation from patients. This is not only for those involved in tacrolimus monitoring but also in other procedures such as clinical trials, making blood microsampling a crucial player across the field of medicine.