Blood samples are typically drawn by doctors or nursing staff in medical practices and shipped to a laboratory by courier. However, only visiting a practice to get one’s bloodwork done is inconvenient, especially for elderly people and those living in remote areas.
The ESF-funded ‘Blood-it-yourself’ project by the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology at Hannover Medical School and the Department of Family Medicine at the University Medical Centre Göttingen aims to determine whether people can draw small amounts of blood themselves. Patients receive an approved device to draw blood from their upper arm and ship the samples by post to the laboratory.
This approach offers several advantages. Patients no longer need to travel to their practitioner's office, which is often difficult and time-consuming. Experience shows that self-collection is painless and reduces the anxiety associated with blood tests.
‘We want to prove that many people can take blood at home, reducing costs and travel time’, says Dr Müller from the Göttingen University Medical Centre. ‘Just a few drops of blood are enough for the necessary analysis, which is crucial to monitor conditions such as chronic inflammatory or rheumatic conditions. Introducing self-blood collection may also save practice staff valuable time.’
The study is part of a wider project on remote blood collection in rural areas. The aim is to develop, test, and introduce patient-friendly systems for self-blood collection, promising significant savings for patients, doctors, and health care systems.
By making self-blood collection a viable option, this study could revolutionise the way blood tests are conducted, making healthcare more accessible and efficient for everyone.
Project details
- Project name
- Blood-it yourself project / Blut mobil
- Countries
- Germany
- Organisation
- Department of General Practice, University Medical Center of the University of Göttingen
- Participants
- 250
- Project start
- 2023
- Project end
- 2025
- Contact details
- Dr. Frank Müller
Universitätsmedizin Göttingen, Institut für Allgemeinmedizin, Humboldtallee 38, 37073 Göttingen, Germany
+49 551 39 65 663
frank.mueller@med.uni-goettingen.de - Total budget
- €735.389,97
- EU Budget contribution
- €514.772,97
