Founded in 2016. We are passionate about enabling more convenient solutions for patient centric sampling, ensuring more reliable test results for healthcare and other providers of tests based on blood or plasma.
We believe in equal access to healthcare diagnostics for everyone, everywhere!
A drop of blood is produced by finger-prick and transferred to the device inlet port. This is the only action required by the user.
It has been demonstrated that 97 % of untrained, first time users (n=2500) can successfully collect a sample which is good enough for clinical decision making.
It is important to follow the user instructions to ensure successful sampling. You will find all the information that you need for this here.
Open and unfold the Capitainer®B card.
Fingerprick with a suitable lancet.
Apply one hanging drop of blood to each inlet.
Confirm successful sampling
Send in the regular mail. No special transport is needed.
View our explainer video on how to sample with capitainer.
Easy to useDesigned for self sampling.
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AccurateQuantitative sampling with the accuracy & precision of traditional pipetting. |
TrustedNext generation of dried blood spots, the established standard for blood sampling. |
We have designed our devices to eliminate the risk of over- or under-fill and integrated an instant successful sampling indication. The device is slim and can be shipped back to the laboratory by regular mail.
Capitainer®B (formerly known as Capitainer®qDBS) is the next generation dried blood spot sampling card based on our qDBS technology. It empowers healthcare providers, researchers and laboratories across the world to provide accurate and easy to use at-home sampling solutions for their customers and patients.
Automatically meters 2×10µl of blood
The design eliminates the risk of over- or under-fill
Successful sampling indicator integrated in the device
Sample protected from contamination within the device
Simply apply one drop of blood to the inlet
DBS has been used since the 1960s when introduced in newborn screening. A major drawback of conventional DBS cards is the lack of volumetric control and the hematocrit (Ht) effect. As a different Ht, due to different blood viscousity, leads to different spot size a standardized subpunch on conventional DBS does still not provide an exact volume. These limitations reduce conventional DBS to qualitative or semiquantitative analysis, while most clinical tests are quantitative.
The microfluidic technology of the Capitainer®qDBS card provides an exact volume to a pre-cut DBS disc. Since the full volume defined spot is used for analysis, the Ht effect is overcome and the microsample can be used for quantitative tests. Methods have been published for over 2000 analytes from conventional DBS, these can now be developed into quantitative tests with the new generation of DBS cards from Capitainer.
Dimensions: 78 x 43 x 3 mm
Sample volume: 2 x 10 µl
DBS paper: Ahlstrom grade 222
>80% of the device is paper based
<1,2 grams of plastics per device
Reproducibility:
Better than 0.5 μl as one Standard
Deviation (SD), (CV <5%)
Outliers:
Rate of over- or under-sampling
(with a deviation >3 SD) <0.1%
Non-sampling: <5%
Temperature range: +15°C to +35°C
Relative humidity range: 15% to 90%
Hematocrit value: 25% to 55%
The card must be used within 30 minutes from opening the package.
Collected Capitainer B samples can be stored at room temperature.
The stability of individual analytes in DBS samples should be validated by the responsible laboratory. In general, stability increases with lower temperature and lower humidity. Capitainer B discs can be stored in the freezer to extend stability. Please refer to the extensive literature for traditional DBS samples as guidance for individual analytes.
Dispose according to local regulations. Take care with blood stained materials and sharps.
Capitainer B is CE-marked, registered as an IVD product according to the 98/97EC In vitro Diagnostic Medical Device Directive and registered with the US FDA as a Device Class 1.
Capitainer®B Vanadate is a next generation dried blood spot sampling solution that is empowering laboratories across the world to provide fast and accurate PEth testing servcies.
Capitainer®B Vanadate is based on our accurate and reliable qDBS technology. In addition, it incorporates our proprietary technology for integrating the phospholipase D (PLD) inhibitor sodium metavanadate (NaVO3) in the DBS paper disc.
Volumetric, solves the problem with traditional DBS
Enables easier sampling via finger blood
Enables accurate testing of Phosphatidylethanol (PEth)
Shipping and storage of the sample in ambient temperature
Eliminates the risk of post sampling PEth formation
PEth is a direct biomarker for alcohol consumption and is only produced in the presence of ethanol. This is in contrast to for example GGT (Gamma glutamyl transpeptidase) an indirector marker of alcohol use as a marker for liver inflammation that can be caused by dozens of drugs and also infections. PEth (phosphatidylethanol) is found in red blood cells and is an abnormal phospholipid that is formed in the presence of ethanol. It is formed via a transphosphatidylation reaction of phospholipase D (PLD). PEth accumulates with frequent alcohol consumption with a half-life of approximately 4 days. Therefore, PEth is a biomarker for long term alcohol use.
In blood that contains ethanol at sampling, PEth may continue to form after sampling [2]. This may lead to falsely elevated PEth concentrations. This is a well described phenomenon in venous blood samples were storage temperature and shipping conditions need to be controlled in order to limitit In Vitro formation. However, the formation of PEth can be stopped through inhibiting the PLD activity. Sodium metavanadate (NaVO3) is an effective PLD inhibitor.
We recommend reading the full publication of Beck et al. [1] for more details regarding the advantages with Capitainer®B Vanadate in PEth analysis.
Dimensions: 78 x 43 x 3 mm
Sample volume: 2 x 10 µl
DBS paper: Ahlstrom grade 222
>80% of the device is paper based
<1,2 grams of plastics per device
Reproducibility:
Better than 0.5 μl as one Standard
Deviation (SD), (CV <5%)
Outliers:
Rate of over- or under-sampling
(with a deviation >3 SD) <0.1%
Non-sampling: <5%
Temperature range: +15°C to +35°C
Relative humidity range: 15% to 90%
Hematocrit value: 25% to 55%
The card must be used within 30 minutes from opening the package.
Collected Capitainer B Vanadate samples can be stored at room temperature.
The stability of individual analytes in DBS samples should be validated by the responsible laboratory. In general, stability increases with lower temperature and lower humidity. Capitainer B Vanadate discs can be stored in the freezer to extend stability. Please refer to the extensive literature for traditional DBS samples as guidance for individual analytes.
Dispose according to local regulations. Take care with blood stained materials and sharps.
Capitainer B Vanadate is CE-marked, registered as an IVD product according to the 98/97EC In vitro Diagnostic Medical Device Directive.
Capitainer®B 50 is the blood sampling card for a larger sample volume, enabling microsampling for a wider range of analytes and application techniques. All Capitainer®B products deliver volumetric accuracy and precision with qDBS technology. It empowers researchers and laboratories across the world to provide accurate and easy to use at-home sampling solutions for their customers.
Automatically meters 2×50µl of blood
Designed to minimize the risk of over- or under-fill
Successful sampling indicator integrated in the device
Sample protected from contamination within the device
Allows applications of multiple drops until metering channel is filled
DBS has been used since the 1960s when introduced in newborn screening. However, a major drawback of conventional DBS cards is the lack of volumetric control and the hematocrit (Ht) effect. As a different Ht, due to different blood viscousity, leads to different spot size a standardized subpunch on conventional DBS does still not provide an exact volume. These limitations reduce conventional DBS to qualitative or semiquantitative analysis, while most clinical tests are quantitative.
The microfluidic qDBS technology of the Capitainer®B card provides an exact sample volume to a pre-cut DBS disc. Since the full volume defined spot is used for analysis, the Ht effect is overcome and the microsample can be used for quantitative tests. Methods are published for over 2000 analytes using conventional DBS. Now, these can be developed into quantitative tests with the next generation of DBS cards from Capitainer.
Product dimensions: 78 x 43 x 4 mm
Sample disc diameter: 6 mm
Sample volume: 2 x 50 +/- 0,98 µl
DBS paper: Ahlstrom grade 320
Reproducibility:
Standard deviation less than 0.98 μl (CV < 2%).
Outliers:
Probability of overfilling or underfilling (deviation> 3 SD) < 1%**.
Risk of no sample: < 1%**.
**Success run testing with safety delay: ∆T>6seconds, 35 and 45% Hematocrit,
Reliability 99%, Confidence 95%, n=300, 0 failures accepted.
Temperature range: +15°C to +35°C
Relative humidity range: 15% to 90%
Hematocrit value: 25% to 55%
The card must be used within 30 minutes from opening the package
Collected qDBS samples can be stored at room temperature.
The stability of individual analytes in DBS samples should be validated by the responsible laboratory. In general, stability increases with lower temperature and lower humidity. qDBS discs can be stored in the freezer to extend stability. Please refer to the extensive literature for traditional DBS samples as guidance for individual analytes.
Dispose according to local regulations. Take care with blood stained materials and sharps.
Capitainer®B 50 is CE-marked, registered as an IVD product according to the IVD Regulation (EU) 2017/746 and registered with the US FDA as a Device Class 1.
All Capitainer devices can be delivered in ready to use sampling kits.
The kit comes in a small box and contains all that´s needed for easy and successful self-sampling.
A kit contains:
The kit can also be supplied with your preferred branding, both on the sampling instructions and on the box itself.
All kits are produced upon order.
Designed to protect and allow the sample to dry during shipment
Designed for the Capitainer® sampling technology platform.
Adaptable for different heights of 96 well plates. Includes optional cleaning step of the puncher head between punches.
Puncher is controlled via intuitive software which includes features such as barcode reading, punched disc detection and export of data to a spreadsheet in XLSX format.
Whether you are a patient seeking to understand how to use our self-sampling device at home, or a laboratory professional wishing to learn how the devices should be processed once they are shipped back to your facility, our clear instructional videos and written explanations will give you all the information you need.
Please use the channels below to find usage instructions and answers to many common questions.
A drop of blood is produced by finger-prick and transferred to the device inlet port. This is the only action required by the user.
It has been demonstrated that 97 % of untrained, first time users (n=2500) can successfully collect a sample which is good enough for clinical decision making.
It is important to follow the user instructions to ensure successful sampling. You will find all the information that you need for this here.
1. Open and unfold the Capitainer®qDBS card.
2. Fingerprick with a suitable lancet.
3. Apply one hanging drop of blood to each inlet.
4. Confirm successful sampling, close, seal and mark with unique ID.
5. Send in the regular mail. No special transport is needed.
Capitainer®qDBS – Sampling by a Healthcare Professional
Capitainer®qDBS – Blood Sampling – Important Steps.
Capitainer®qDBS and Capitainer®B Vanadate is designed for finger-pricking, i.e. using fresh blood. However, you might want to start your validation experiments with venous blood and pipetting it to the cards in the lab. There are some aspects to consider when you do this:.
We have designed our paper based shipping method to reduce waste and minimise the carbon footprint of your workflows. The packaging approach follows the CDC triple packaging guidelines for DBS specimen collection.[1] We strongly recommend the use of our shipping method.
However, if your analytes are sensitive to humidity and / or temperature, alternative approaches such as storing the samples in aluminium coated plastic bags and inclusion of desiccant pouches should be considered. The approach taken for individual analytes will need to be appropriately validated.
For more guidance, please check the extensive literature on DBS.
The paper “Dried blood spots: Effects of less than optimal collection, shipping time, heat, and humidity” gives an introduction to the topic.
[1] Shipping Guidelines for Dried-Blood Spot Specimens (cdc.gov)
The disc containing the blood is easily accessed from the reverse of the card by peeling away the protective tabs.
The discs can be removed manually with tweezers and put it into a suitable tube or plate for extraction. We recommend a flat tip tweezer.
Capitainer also provides a semi-automated puncher system. The puncher is equipped with a barcode scanner, optical detection of the disc in the wells and an optional cleaning step for the puncher head between each sample. The semi-automated puncher saves time and also ensures traceability of each sample for the downstream analysis process.
The Capitainer puncher system is calibrated at delivery for your 96-well plate of choice.
We highly recommend use of the automated puncher solution for larger projects and/or frequent analysis.
After collection of the disc, the sample is eluted. The choice of elution protocol and buffer is dependent on your analyte and downstream analysis. Published methods with conventional DBS samples are also applicable for Capitainer®qDBS and could serve as a guideline.
Add your buffer of choice to the tubes or plate wells containing the discs. 100-150µl is a guide, but must be adjusted depending on concentration and volume requirements. This gives a 10-15 times sample dilution to calculate for in downstream analysis. The discs absorbs approximately 20µl diluent that will not be recovered with the standard protocol. We do not recommend lower elution buffer volume than 50µl for an efficient elution process.
Gently agitate the tube/plate containing disc and extraction buffer for 30-60 minutes and then transfer the liquid to a clean tube or plate.
To reduce the diluent volume and introduce a clean-up step, the use of spin columns/plates to elute the sample might be considered. This has the benefit of also recovering most of the 20µL liquid absorbed by the disc.
1.Choose appropriate filter for your analyte
2.Add the qDBS disc to the column
3.Apply buffer, gently agitate for 60 min
4.Spin down the eluate, discard column + disc
For automation setup, the use of this extraction principle has the benefit of producing an eluate without the DBS disc remaining at the bottom of the wells. This means that pipetting robots potentially can go down deeper in the well and thereby pipette from lower volumes.
Certain liquid handling robots can also handle filter plates, thereby enabling a fully automated workflow for assay setup downstream of the disk removal.
The eluted samples are ready for analysis on your selected platform. Among the techniques and platforms used with samples from Capitainer are:
Mass spectrometry
Elisa
PCR
Capillary electrophoresis
Immunochemistry
Luminex xMAP®
The review “State of the Science in Dried Blood Spots” describes a range of analytes measurable in DBS samples. These approaches should also be applicable to the quantitative analysis of Capitainer®qDBS samples.
For venous sampling, large volumes of blood are discarded, since only small volumes are typically used for analysis. Self-sampling with Capitainer® reduces this waste. Please, always follow your local regulations regarding waste handling of dried samples.
If not discarded, samples are often stored in biobanks. Venous samples are typically transferred to tubes and frozen at -80 °C. This is costly, consumes a lot of energy and takes up a large amount of space. qDBS samples offer the possibility to biobank samples in a simpler and more cost efficient way.
The paper “Stability of Proteins in Dried Blood Spot Biobanks” discusses the possibilities.
We believe Home Sampling has a key role to play in helping health authorities, healthcare providers and researchers to perform serological tests for efficient studies and diagnostics. Capitainer has been used by many customers with different analysis platforms.
Capitainer®qDBS is used for Covid-19 antibody diagnostics with various analytical platforms. Published data supports that antibodies are stable for several weeks at room temperature in DBS. Our quantitative qDBS system enables accurate antibody titer measurement from home sampling.
Different ELISA setups, the Luminex platform for multivariate analysis and functionality with Roche cobas system has been shown in scientific publications. In addition, proteomic profiling has been performed with the Olink platform. Below are some highlights on how Capitainer has been used by others to facilitate Covid-19 laboratory analysis.
Capitainer®qDBS has been used with thousands of inhabitants in the Swedish region Västerbotten. Being a sparsely populated region, where many inhabitants have a long distance to the phlebotomist, sampling at home offered improved medical service to the inhabitants. The application proved the usability of Capitainer sampling in broad usage for everyone.
In November 2021 ABC labs announced that they start to provide laboratory service for home sampling with Capitainer and quantitative Covid-19 antibody testing. If you are interested in using their service to provide testing with the help of an established laboratory, get in contact info@stratech.co.uk
In the spring of 2021 The Public Health Agency of Sweden performed a nationwide population study on antibodies towards Covid-19. According to participants, self-sampling with Capitainer was expressed as the preferred sampling method, compared to venous blood draws from a phlebotomist
A clear majority preferred sampling at home. Samples were analyses at the laboratory Xerum AB and at arrival to the lab > 95% were correctly sampled. The full study report in Swedish can be read here. We have translated the 4 stated reasons why home sampling with Capitainer was chosen is this study:
In addition, the report finally states that “The study was conducted successfully and provided a picture of the presence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in the population during weeks 17-18, 2021. The methodology as used worked well and can be applied in similar future antibody follow-ups”
Capitainer samples are compatible with analysis on the Luminex platform. Get inspired on how you can perform a multiparameter study using the multiplex technique from Luminex together with home sampling with Capitainer in the paper “Multianalyte serology in home-sampled blood enables an unbiased assessment of the immune response against SARS-CoV-2”
Proteomic profiling using multiplexing techniques from Olink is feasible using Capitainer home sampling approach. Ahead of print, you can read the outcome of the study “Precise blood proteome profiling in an undiagnosed population with COVID-19” to learn more on how Capitainer can be used in proteomics research.
Elecsys® Anti-SARS-CoV-2 S immunoassay (Roche Diagnostics) is used in the publication “Use of Quantitative Dried Blood Spots to Evaluate the Post-Vaccination Level of Neutralizing Antibodies against SARS-CoV-2” to prove the concept of population-wide analysis of COVID-19 from blood specimens collected outside a hospital setting. Due to the larger sample volume required on most standard chemistry analyzers, especially with regard to the dead volume, there will always be a dilution factor to account for in this laboratory setup.
Patients can collect high quality blood samples themselves in a location that is convenient to them. The samples are then sent to the laboratory for analysis through the regular mail. This is enabled by Capitainer´s new disposable sampling chip that automatically meters and stores an exact blood volume.
Capitainer®qDBS uses a combination of paper and polymer microfluidics to meter a 10 µl fixed volume from an undefined volume of finger prick blood. After applying a drop of blood to the inlet, a metering channel in the device is automatically filled. A valve composed of a thin dissolvable membrane then opens up and removes excessive blood at the inlet. Subsequently, a second membrane opens up, allowing for transfer of the metered blood volume onto the sample collection disk. The sample is allowed to dry forming a high quality DBS sample suitable for quantitative analysis.
The metering mechanism employing thin dissolvable films was first demonstrated by G. Lenk et al
Manual Pipetting of Blood vs Capitainer®qDBS Collection
Experiment
Result
Source: Evaluation study by Dr Olof Beck, Analysis of caffeine by LC-MS/MS method. 2020 March 16
Source: Evaluation study by Dr Olof Beck, Analysis of caffeine by LC-MS/MS method. 2020 March 16
Similar results were obtained in a study by Spooner et al
The product is not verified to be used outside the specified range. Hence, we cannot guarantee correct product performance in these circumstances.
No, the product is not specified for this, and it may affect the performance of the Capitainer®qDBS.
The sample is collected on an Ahlstrom 222 paper disc. This can be accessed from the reverse side of the card, either with tweezers or by our semi automated Capitainer puncher.
The blue color is Patent Blue, which is used in the Polyvinylalcohol (PVOH) membranes that enable the metering function of the sampling card. If you are using LC-MS as your method of analysis, the PVOH and patent blue will give a signal early in the mass chromatogram and possibly contribute to the other matrix effects that will have to be corrected for. These components will not contaminate your MS instrument.
As Capitainer®qDBS is designed for use with blood derived from finger-pricking, i.e. using fresh blood, there are some aspects to consider if you do your validation experiments with control venous blood and pipetting in the lab.
In general most applications that can be run with traditional DBS.
The system is designed to be shipped in the breathable paper pouch provided in the Capitainer® Kit. The customer is responsible for confirming their own shipping methods and shipping conditions.
Storage times depend on storage conditions and the determined stability for each analyte. For guidance, please refer to existing reference material for DBS samples, examples of which are included in the links below.
Stability of Proteins in Dried Blood Spot Biobanks
Dried blood spots: Effects of less than optimal collection, shipping time, heat, and humidity
