Tasso+ guide
How to collect a Tasso blood sample at home that the laboratory can measure
Tasso is a small device that collects blood from the skin of your upper arm when you press its button. This guide gives each step of the collection, the reason for it and what to do when the tube fills slowly.
What you need
The Tasso+ device and the tube from your kit
A glass of water to drink beforehand
An alcohol wipe or skin disinfectant
About five minutes for the collection
In short
How a Tasso collection works
You drink a glass of water, warm the upper arm for one to two minutes and disinfect the skin. You then place Tasso on the upper arm, press the red button and wait three to four minutes until the blood reaches the top mark. After that you seal the tube, turn it slowly ten times and send it back in the prepaid packaging from your kit.
What it is
Tasso collects blood from the small vessels under the skin
Tasso+ is a single-use device made by Tasso, Inc., and it collects capillary blood, which is the blood in the small vessels just under the skin.
A press of the red button
You place Tasso+ on the upper arm, and one press of the red button starts the collection.
A tube filled in minutes
The tube usually fills in three to four minutes, and five minutes is the limit.
Used once and linked by barcode
Each device is used for one collection only, and a barcode links the tube to your order.
Many values from the same tube
A laboratory measures more than 40 values from this kind of sample, so a well-filled tube means more values can be measured.
Before you start
A warm arm and a glass of water help the tube fill
Most slow collections come from a cold arm or from too little to drink, so both belong to the preparation.
Drink a glass of water
Blood flows more freely when you have had enough to drink, so drink a glass of water shortly before the collection.
Warm the upper arm
Rub or tap the upper arm for one to two minutes, or hold a heat pack on it, because a warm arm gives blood faster than a cold one.
Clean the skin and let it dry
Disinfect the spot on the upper arm and wait about ten seconds until it is dry before you place the device.
The collection
Each step of the collection, from the button to the sealed tube
These steps follow Aniva's collection instructions, and the whole collection takes about five minutes.
01
Place the device and press the button
Clip the tube onto Tasso+ so that you can still see the marks on it, then place the device on the upper arm. Press the red button firmly and keep holding it for three seconds after the click.
02
Wait until the blood reaches the top mark
A normal collection takes three to four minutes. After five minutes you take the device off even if the top mark is not reached, because the blood clots and a longer wait adds nothing.
03
Take the device off and seal the tube
Lift the device off the arm from one side with the tube still attached. Then twist the tube off carefully and press the cap down until it clicks.
04
Turn the sealed tube slowly
Turn the sealed tube upside down and back ten times, slowly and without shaking it.
Where the minutes go
Warming the arm, one to two minutes
A normal collection, three to four minutes
The limit at five minutes
After the collection
The sealed tube is kept at room temperature and sent back
After the last turn, you put the tube in the sample bag and then in the prepaid return packaging from your kit.
The sample keeps overnight at room temperature, so it does not need to go in the fridge.
You write nothing on the tube or the packaging, because the barcode links the tube to your order.
The return packaging in your kit is prepaid, so you post the sample without buying postage.
When something goes wrong
What to do when the collection does not go as planned
Most problems have a simple cause, and in most cases the sample is still worth sending.
What you see
What it usually means
What to do
What you see
The tube fills very slowly
What it usually means
The arm is cold or you drank too little beforehand
What to do
Give the collection up to five minutes, and warm the arm longer next time
What you see
The flow stops halfway
What it usually means
A small blockage in the device
What to do
Press the red button firmly a second time
What you see
The blood only reaches the lower mark
What it usually means
There is less blood than planned
What to do
Send the tube anyway, because the laboratory can usually still measure a lot
What you see
The blood looks dark or has small clots
What it usually means
It usually looks worse than it is
What to do
Send the tube, because the laboratory spins every sample in a centrifuge anyway
What you see
A layer at the bottom does not mix with the blood
What it usually means
It is a solid gel that separates serum from blood cells in the laboratory
What to do
Leave it as it is and keep the tube closed
In figures
A normal collection in minutes and turns
These figures come from Aniva's collection instructions, and a collection within them is normal.
1–2 min
of warming the upper arm
3 s
of holding the button after the click
3–4 min
for a normal collection, five at most
10 turns
of the sealed tube, slowly and without shaking
Questions
The questions people ask before a Tasso+ collection
Here are the answers to the questions that come up before most collections.
Do I need to fast before a Tasso+ collection?
For most values you do not need to fast. Triglycerides can read higher after a meal, so a test of blood fats is best done before breakfast.
Does the sample need to go in the fridge?
No, the sample keeps overnight at room temperature.
Do I write my name on the tube or the box?
No, the barcode links the tube to your order, so nothing is written on the tube or the packaging.
Why do some kits hold extra tubes or devices?
A larger panel needs more blood, while long-term blood sugar (HbA1c) is measured from its own tube. Each kit holds what its panel needs.
Can I use the device again if the tube is not full?
No, once Tasso+ is off the arm it is used up and is not placed again. Send the tube you have, because the laboratory can usually still measure a lot from it.
Is Tasso+ a medical device?
Tasso states that the device is FDA cleared in the United States and CE marked in Europe.
Read next
More about Tasso+ at Aniva
Tasso+ test kits
Kits with the laboratory analysis included and no minimum order.
Tasso+ for your business
Tasso+ collection inside a kit under your own brand.
Diagnostics as a Service
The kits, the courier, the laboratory and the results from one supplier.
Tasso+ for pharmacies
How a pharmacy in Germany offers Tasso+ blood tests with Aniva.
Every step, figure and answer on this page comes from Aniva's collection instructions in the Aniva help centre at help.anivahealth.com. The device status comes from tassoinc.com, and the number of values comes from the capillary catalogue at apotheken.anivahealth.com/tasso. The photographs come from Unsplash.