Dried Blood Spot (DBS)
Definition
Sampling format in which 50 microlitres of capillary blood is spotted on Whatman 903 paper, dried and shipped at ambient temperature.
- Sample volume
- 50 microlitres capillary blood
- Substrate
- Whatman 903 paper
- Shipping condition
- Ambient temperature after drying
- Field
- Toxicology sample extraction
Common questions
Why is dried blood spot sampling useful when a full venous draw isn't practical?+
A finger-prick spot needs no phlebotomist, cold chain, or centrifuge, and dries into a stable matrix that resists microbial growth and many degradation pathways affecting liquid blood, which makes it suited to remote collection, postal transport, and situations where only a small sample volume is obtainable.
What is the main analytical limitation of dried blood spots compared to whole blood or plasma?+
Because the sample is a fixed small volume absorbed into paper, extraction efficiency and the haematocrit of the original blood can affect the measured concentration, so DBS results for some analytes need haematocrit correction or method-specific validation before being compared directly to conventional liquid blood values.
Related terms
- Accelerated Solvent Extraction (ASE)
- Extraction of solid matrices at 100 to 200 degrees Celsius and around 1500 psi in sealed stainless steel cells. Also called pressurised...
- HPTLC
- High-performance TLC with smaller silica particles, automated Camag Linomat band application and densitometric scanning that delivers quantitative results comparable to HPLC.
- Mixed-Mode SPE
- Sorbent that combines reverse-phase and ion-exchange chemistry on the same particle. Strata-X-C, Oasis MCX and Bond Elut Certify are the cation-exchange forms...
- Solid-Phase Extraction (SPE)
- Sample clean-up in which analytes are retained on a packed bed of bonded silica or polymer, interferences are washed off, and analytes...
- Solid-Phase Microextraction (SPME)
- Solvent-free extraction in which a fused silica fibre coated with a stationary phase is exposed to the sample or its headspace, and...