title: Operational evaluation of the earlobe arterialized blood collector in critically ill patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The new Earlobe Arterialized Blood Collector (EABC®) is a minimally invasive prototype system able to perform capillary blood collection from the earlobe (EL) with minimal training and risk. This system could improve medical emergency management in extreme environments. Consequently, a prospective validation study was designed to evaluate operational performance of the EABC® in a cohort of critically ill patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Arterialized capillary blood was sampled from the EL of 55 invasively ventilated patients using the EABC® following a validated procedure. Operational characteristics such as the number of cuts and cartridges required, sampling failure/success ratio, bleeding complications, storage requirements and other auxiliary aspects were recorded. Result turnaround laboratory times (TAT) were compared with published references.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Blood collection was as easily performed on one earlobe as the other. Twenty-six minutes (mean 25.8; SD = 3.8) were required to obtain results, 15 min for patient preparation (mean 15.3; SD = 2.6) + 11 min for sampling and analysis (mean 11.4; SD = 2.1), which is similar to published hospital reference laboratory TAT. The average number of cartridges required was 1.3 (1-3; mode = 1) with the mean number of cut attempts being 1.2 (1-4; mode = 1). Problems/difficulties occurred in 59% of cases but were mainly attributed to patient's demographic characteristics, with only 10% attributable to the collector (superficial cut, blood leak, collector misalignment and obstructed vision). Haemostasis was quickly achieved with minimum complications. Storage of the complete sampling kit required a 300 × 300 × 300 mm box. Two 9-V batteries were used during the 2-year study period.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The new EABC® system concept is safe, fast and easy to use. Observed problems/difficulties are easily amendable with certain design modifications. Definitive versions of the prototype have the potential for significant benefits for isolated and extreme environments in medicine.
authors.affiliation: Critical Care Centre, Corporació Sanitària Universitària Parc Taulí, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, CIBER Enfermedades Respiratorias, Sabadell, Spain ; Servei de Medicina Intensiva, Corporació Sanitària Parc Taulí, Parc Taulí 1, 08208 Sabadell, Spain.
authors.forename: Sergi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vaquer
authors.affiliation: Critical Care Centre, Corporació Sanitària Universitària Parc Taulí, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, CIBER Enfermedades Respiratorias, Sabadell, Spain.
authors.forename: Jordi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Masip
authors.affiliation: Critical Care Centre, Corporació Sanitària Universitària Parc Taulí, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, CIBER Enfermedades Respiratorias, Sabadell, Spain.
authors.forename: Gisela
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gili
authors.affiliation: Critical Care Centre, Corporació Sanitària Universitària Parc Taulí, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, CIBER Enfermedades Respiratorias, Sabadell, Spain.
authors.forename: Gemma
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gomà
authors.affiliation: Critical Care Centre, Corporació Sanitària Universitària Parc Taulí, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, CIBER Enfermedades Respiratorias, Sabadell, Spain.
authors.forename: Joan Carles
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Oliva
authors.affiliation: Science, Technology & Engineering, Wyle GmbH, Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Alexandre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Frechette
authors.affiliation: Science, Technology & Engineering, Wyle GmbH, Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Evetts
authors.affiliation: MicroG Centre-PUCRS, Porto Alegre, Brazil ; CHAPS, King's College, London, UK.
authors.forename: Thais
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Russomano
authors.affiliation: Critical Care Centre, Corporació Sanitària Universitària Parc Taulí, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, CIBER Enfermedades Respiratorias, Sabadell, Spain.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Artigas
keywords: Acute respiratory failure; Capillary blood; Intensive care medicine; Mechanical ventilation; Space medicine
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