Collecting your sample
A finger prick, a few drops, and about five minutes at your kitchen table.
What is in the box
Your kit contains everything you need, and nothing you have to source yourself.
- A barcoded collection card — the barcode is what links the sample to you
- Sterile single-use lancets
- An alcohol wipe and a plaster
- A desiccant pouch and a prepaid return mailer
Getting a good sample
Warm hands bleed better. Run them under warm water for thirty seconds and let your arm hang by your side for a moment before you start — gravity does most of the work.
Prick the side of a fingertip rather than the pad; it hurts less and bleeds more freely. Wipe away the first drop, then let the following drops fall freely onto the circles. Do not press your finger against the card — smearing ruins the spot.
Fill each circle completely. An under-filled card is the single most common reason a sample cannot be run, and it means waiting for a replacement kit.
Drying and posting
Let the card air dry for at least thirty minutes, flat, out of direct sunlight. Do not use a hairdryer and do not seal it early — trapped moisture degrades the sample.
Once dry, seal it in the foil pouch with the desiccant, register the barcode in your dashboard, and drop it in the post. Dried blood spots are stable at room temperature, so there is no cold chain and no deadline to race.
Register before you post
Registration is what tells the lab whose sample this is, along with the date of birth, biological sex, and collection date needed to run and validate the analysis. A card that arrives unregistered cannot be matched to a person, and results cannot be released.