High-Throughput Optimization of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Using Fully Automated Sample Preparation LC/MS/MS System (CLAM-2000 + LCMS-8040)

Introduction

Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) is a series of processes where the blood concentration of drugs in a patient is measured to determine the optimal dose and method of administration for an individual based on pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic analysis. TDM is used during drug treatment with drugs that pose administration management difficulties, such as drugs with a narrow therapeutic range or with an effective range and toxic range that are close to each other. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) has been the main analytical method used with TDM, but recently liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) is being used to improve analytical accuracy and precision based on its superior selectivity. LC/MS/MS normally requires sample preparation steps such as deproteinization and dilution to analyze a blood serum or blood plasma sample. These steps introduce the risk of error or variability occurring based on operator skill. The volume of work performed by an operator also increases in accordance with the number of samples. Therefore, the sample preparation process can become the bottleneck of an analytical workflow when analyzing a large number of samples.

March 3, 2016 GMT