Neoteryx LLC, Torrance, Calif, inventor of the volumetric absorptive microsampling technology, is supplying its Mitra microsampling devices to the pediatric nephrology team at Nottingham University Hospital for use in its kidney home-monitoring kit. The kit and microsampling device enable easy at-home sampling for therapeutic drug monitoring of pediatric kidney transplant patients.
Created by Monique Burgin, a specialist nurse, and Jon Jin Kim, MD, a pediatric nephrologist, the take-home kits are designed to facilitate easier therapeutic drug monitoring of tacrolimus and creatinine. Made specifically for pediatric transplant patients, the kits include all the materials needed to collect a blood sample at home, with additional elements such as ‘finger-pricking good’ lancets and ‘well done’ stickers for successful collections.
Based on Neoteryx’s proprietary volumetric absorptive microsampling technology, the Mitra microsampling device is easy to use and requires minimal training to collect a dependable blood specimen. It allows quantitative, volumetrically accurate capillary blood collection anywhere, anytime, by almost anyone, with minimal training. Patients or their caregivers can take their own blood samples from a fingerstick and ship them to a lab, where testing can be performed.
“These home monitoring kits make microsampling easy and fun for families,” says Kim. “I’ve seen the potential that Mitra technology has for facilitating remote sampling, and I created these kits to help bring that into a pediatric context. When I see how much easier it makes things for patients, when they can self-test and take agency in the process, it really hits home.”
One patient who has directly benefited from the initiative is 14-year-old Josh Knapp, a kidney transplant patient living in England.
“During a routine clinic appointment, we were told about the home-testing initiative and the Mitra microsampling device, how it works, and how to use it,” explains Caroline Knapp, Josh’s mother. “We were asked if we would like to try it. Josh, of course, being the typical 14-year-old, with the prospect of trying something totally new that could lessen hospital visits and make blood sampling a lot easier, jumped at the chance. We can now sit at home and do a sample using the device, send it off, and get an accurate result without having to leave the comfort of our own home or Josh missing school—no driving for miles for blood tests.”
According to patient satisfaction data from Neoteryx, 93% of surveyed patients who used the microsampling devices said they would be ‘likely’ or ‘very likely’ to choose microsampling over venipuncture were they making the choice on behalf of a child. Such comments speak to the powerful applications for microsampling technology in the realm of pediatric care.
“The advantages of using Mitra devices and microsampling technology in the context of therapeutic drug monitoring are becoming more and more apparent, especially in pediatrics, where an improved patient experience is paramount,” says Fasha Mahjoor, CEO of Neoteryx.
For further information, visit Neoteryx.
