Capitainer® microsampling for Covid-19 serology is used 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. Read the News about this here.

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 with  ABC Labs or us at Capitainer.

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:

1. In this study, blood sampling is not considered necessary care and we wanted to avoid that the study burdened the regional care.
2. The participants were distributed over the full geagraphical area of Sweden which complicated the implementation of sampling performed by health care professionals. Some participants also had a geographical distance to their care facility.
3. Sampling at home is preferable to the study from a contagion perspective
   since potentially infected participants did not have to leave their homes to get to a care facility.
4. Other types of self-sampling (nose, throat and saliva for PCR testing) at home is a method that in its practical simplicity invites participation and has worked well in our other surveys.

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.