Becton Dickinson (BD) India is now looking to expand the market with the next generation of safety-engineered blood collection devices and lancets for painless blood withdrawal.

The devices: BD Microtainer Contact-Activated Lancet and BD Quikheel Lancet are now preferred for paediatrics, chronically ill patients including cancer, dialysis besides transplant and geriatric cases. The lancet is safe with precise and consistent puncture on the skin during blood withdrawal. With the two devices, the company is promoting capillary blood collection because of the difficulty to access veins in infant and adult patients.

In order to address the paediatric cases, BD has a technical collaboration  with the Mumbai-based Cheers Child Care (CCC) a comprehensive child-care centre in the day-care format. The hospital launched the first of its kind ‘Paediatric Phlebotomy Practice’ (PPP) service with a 24x7 helpline to cater to the diagnostic requirements of paediatric patients, with BD’s Microtainer  and Quikheel.

The PPP  adopts  blood collection by a finger or heel puncture process that minimizes the pain and also reduces the volume of blood collected. The process is a  globally accepted  best practice of paediatric blood collection followed across advanced international  healthcare providers.

The key  objective is to reduce the pain during blood collection process and provide  better patient comfort,  ensuring proper sample collection which is critical for accuracy and precision in laboratory diagnosis, stated Dr. Adarsh Pal Singh, associate director, medical affairs, Becton Dickinson India.

Microtainer has an ergonomic design for a comfortable grip and minimizes slippage that could  occur during product activation. It facilitates a consistent puncture depth for easier sampling. Since it covers only a small area at contact point, there is better  visibility of the desired puncture site, he added.

Besides evacuated blood collection devices like the BD Vacutainer with wingsets or needles for chronically ill adult  patients having  veins that  difficult to access.

Microtainer brand tubes are designed for the collection, transport & processing of skin puncture, blood from infants, children, geriatric patients & critical care patients. Samples collected yield reliable results, avoiding the need for repeat collection. The ‘Twist-Assist’ Microgard closure which is an engineering control design reduces blood splatter upon removal, in comparison with other tube closure, according to BD India.

“There is a huge scope for growth going by the mandated neonatal tests to rule out genetic diseases. We have drawn out our plan of action to make both Microtainer  and Quikheel available at hospitals across the country,” stated Dr. Sanjay Sarin, business director, Pre-Analytical System, BD India.

In order to switch from the simple blades or  lancets used for collecting small volume blood from babies at Neonatal Intensive Care Units  or for new born screening test, the company  is engaged in massive product education drive at hospitals, clinics and labs to adopt the safety-engineered blood collection devices and lancets  for painless blood withdrawal, stated Dr Sarin.