The blood sample preparation necessary for spotting onto the TLC plate required removal of the red blood cells and then a single precipitation method to remove proteins which interfere with the running the TLC plate. This extraction could be automated in the future by a fluid handler system and integrated into future cartridge designs. This extraction method avoids the use of a drying step followed by resuspension in secondary solvents as used in many traditional TLC protocols that is procedurally more complex and can introduce additional variability.