(1052-A) Electric field-Assisted Automatable Dried Blood Spots Sample Preparation device for Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome Screening
Monday, February 5, 2024
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM EST
Location: Exhibit Halls AB
Abstract: Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) is a condition caused by near constant in-utero exposure to opioids coupled with the abrupt cessation of exposure upon birth. In the seven-year period between 2010 and 2017 alone, the incidence of NAS has more than doubled, with the frequency of NAS in live births within the United States increasing from 3.3 per 1000 births to 7.3. During the process of diagnosing NAS within neonatal patients, many physicians rely on the child’s mother to relay an honest, detailed history of their opioid use and/or abuse. Collecting samples from neonates deals with the limitation of microsampling on dried blood spot (DBS) cards, with the additional challenge of analyte recovery. Herein, we present a high-throughput electric field assisted sample preparation device, that is compatible on the JANUS G3 robotic liquid handling platform for automation, for fast opioid recovery from DBS. We developed an in-house LC-MS/MS assay that quantifies 5-key drugs of abuse (oxycodone, morphine, methadone, hydrocodone, and codeine) that lead to NAS, with high accuracy, linearity, and precision, from whole blood. Owing to the 1-to-1 translation of whole blood to DBS, we have employed our device to prepare blood samples (for calibrators) and DBS (samples) on an automation platform, to showcase an elevated sample recovery from the DBS compared to current sample preparation methods used in clinical applications.