Missing steps for a wide use of Dried Matrix Spots in biomedical analysis

Micro sampling, mainly in the form of Dried Blood Spots (DBS), has witnessed an important expansion within the biomedical and pharmaceutical communities the last ten years. Among numerous fields of investigation, the method has been successfully applied non-exhaustively in DMPK, in TDM, in pharmacology, in newborn and metabolic screening, and in biomarker assessment. In parallel, technology and methodology has quickly evolved to overcome some of the issue associated to this sampling procedure compared to conventional venepuncture, including novel chemistries of filter paper to overcome spot-to-spot variability or laboratory automates to high-throughput handling. In spite of this perpetual developments and interests, only few, validated clinical applications have arisen beyond the initial inborn screening. Based on the latest developments in this field, the aim of this perspective is to discuss some of the missing steps which, in our opinion, may turn the current use of microsampling into an established and standard procedure in clinical and pharmaceutical analysis