Simplified Miniature Blood Sampler and Preserver for Toxicant Exposure Monitoring

Service members deployed worldwide are at risk of exposures to local environmental and industrial toxicants which can potentially result in long-term adverse health effects. Understanding the impact of these exposures is critical for improved force protection and safeguarding individual soldier health. Capturing and classifying exposure data is essential for implementing risk mitigation strategies. A longitudinal set of biosamples collected over a service member’s career is a rational strategy to generate an archival medical record to document exposures and health effects. Dried blood spots (DBS) on filter papers represent an effective medium for collection and storage of blood in the clinical setting. Unfortunately, logistical challenges hinder DBS collection in field conditions. Furthermore, rapid degradation of analytes of interest occur when DBS cards are stored in harsh environmental conditions. Lynntech proposes to develop a platform centered around existing blood collection cards to circumvent the current limitations of DBS for exposure tracking with samples collected in field conditions. The proposed technology will enhance the stability of biological entities during storage and transportation in harsh environmental conditions. Furthermore, Lynntech’s proposed device will enhance the recovery of target analytes from DBS for reliable assay performance while maintaining a form factor like current blood collection cards.