Comparison of paper spray mass spectrometry analysis of dried blood spots from devices used for in-field collection of clinical samples

Paper spray (PS) is an ambient ionization technique applicable to ionizing analytes from untreated dried biofluid samples. In-field sample analysis could benefit from the capability to use a finger prick of blood to measure drugs in whole blood at low cost and in a short time. Some studies may require specialized blood collection devices that can be used in remote areas. In this study, four different dried blood spot (DBS) devices are used with PS sources and tested for rapid quantification of imatinib and N-desmethyl-imatinib. A triple quadrupole mass spectrometer allows analyte detection with high sensitivity. Analytical figures of merit for the four devices are compared, and it is concluded that several of the novel devices successfully deploy DBS with PS and yield similar results to traditional manual PS methods. Clinical samples collected in a remote location were analyzed as a proof of concept for in-field blood collection and subsequent rapid laboratory analysis.