Overview
- A Nature Medicine study of 337 people across Spain, Sweden, the UK and Italy validated dried capillary blood spots for measuring p‑tau217, GFAP and NfL.
- Finger‑prick results mirrored standard plasma assays and identified cerebrospinal‑fluid–defined Alzheimer’s changes with roughly 86% accuracy, versus about 98% for venous blood tests.
- Participants at the Exeter site successfully self‑collected samples that were posted without refrigeration or onsite processing.
- Investigators and external clinicians called for larger, more diverse validations and cautioned that the method is not ready for screening or routine diagnosis.
- The approach could broaden research participation, speed trial recruitment and was tested even in a small Down syndrome subgroup at elevated risk.