Before you open the box
We're aiming to open collection Tuesday, October 13.
Please keep your box sealed and wait for our email confirming that collection is open. A blood sample only keeps for a short time, so one collected early could reach the lab before it can be run.
In the meantime, set up your Valdura account (the steps are at the bottom of this page), so everything is ready on our side the moment you collect.
Already collected? Email support@valdura.health and we will tell you what to do with it.
Your collection kit
How to use your kit.
Your kit uses the Tasso+ device. It goes on your upper arm, not your fingertip, and fires a lancet to make the draw. Most people describe it as a firm press. In the box with it: a 1 mL collection tube with a green cap, gauze, an alcohol pad, bandages, a warming pack, and a biohazard bag and prepaid packaging for the return. Watch the video below, then work through the steps at your own pace.
The printed instructions inside your box are the official ones. What follows is a plain-English walkthrough of the same steps.
What is in the box, in about a minute.
Video by Tasso, the maker of your collection device. About 4 minutes.
Plan your collection
Five things that make it work.
Set up your Valdura account first.
Do it before you collect (the steps are at the bottom of this page), so your results have somewhere to go.
Collect Monday to Thursday.
Your sample travels overnight and has to reach the lab on a weekday, so never collect on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday.
First thing in the morning, before you eat.
Fast overnight: nothing to eat after dinner, though water is fine. Collect when you get up.
Drink plenty of water.
Have a few glasses the evening before and again that morning. Being well hydrated helps the tube fill.
Ship it the same day.
Drop it at FedEx with the prepaid overnight label in your box. Where to drop it off is below.
Before you start
Seven things worth knowing first.
You need to be 18 or older.
The device is not for use by anyone under 18.
One device, one use, one person.
The device fires a lancet once. It cannot be reused or shared with anyone else, including someone in your own household, and it cannot be used a second time even if your tube did not fill. If a collection does not work, stop and email us for a new kit rather than trying again with the same device.
Sit down, and stay seated.
Lightheadedness can happen with any blood draw. Collect at a table where you can stay seated the whole time, and stand up slowly afterward.
Give yourself about 30 minutes.
The collection itself runs around 5 minutes, but warming your arm beforehand and packing the sample afterward take longer than people expect. Do not start this on your way out the door.
Check the box before you open it.
Do not use the device if the packaging is already open or damaged, or if it is past the expiration date printed on it. If either is true, contact us instead of collecting.
Tell us if you take blood thinners.
Bleeding can last longer than usual. It is still safe to collect, but have your gauze and bandage ready before you start and keep pressure on the site afterward.
You will need a Valdura account.
That account is where your results get explained to you, so it is worth setting up before the lab finishes rather than after. There are step-by-step instructions at the bottom of this page, and step 3 below has a 5-minute wait while the tube fills, which is a good moment for it.
The collection
Five phases, about 30 minutes.
Not yet: we're aiming to open collection Tuesday, October 13. Wait for our email, then come back to these steps.
01
Prepare
Wash your hands and clear a flat surface. Lay out everything in the kit and unwrap the gauze and bandage so they are ready. Twist the cap off the collection tube, press the tube into the device until it is snug, and set the date-of-birth sticker aside for later. Pick a spot on your upper arm, and if it is hairy, trim it so the device can stick to skin. Clean that spot with the alcohol pad and let it dry, then wipe the warming pack with the same pad.
02
Warm the site
Activate the warming pack and rub it up and down your shoulder and upper arm for a full 4 minutes. Keep it moving rather than resting it in one spot. This is the step people skip, and it is the one that decides whether you fill the tube. If the warming pack is missing, rub the area briskly with your hand instead.
03
Collect
Pull the clear cover off the red button and throw it away: the button will not fire through it. Peel the tab and stick the device to your upper arm. Press the button all the way in once and release. Push firmly, some resistance is normal, and you may hear a faint click. Then hang your arm straight down at your side and start a 5-minute timer. Blood may not appear for the first minute or two. That is expected, and a mirror helps you watch the tube fill.
04
Finish and pack
At 5 minutes, or once blood reaches the top fill line, peel the device off from one side, press gauze on the site, and bandage it. Twist the tube free, snap the cap on until it clicks, and gently invert the tube 8 to 10 times. Do not shake it.
05
Label and ship
Write your date of birth on the tube label and fill in the enclosed form. Seal the capped tube in the biohazard bag, then put it in the prepaid packaging from your kit and drop it at FedEx the same day.
Do not skip these
Two things the lab cannot work around.
Write your date of birth on the tube.
Use the sticker label on the collection tube, in MM / DD / YYYY. A tube that arrives without a date of birth on it is rejected, because the lab has no way to confirm whose blood it is.
Fill in the enclosed form completely.
Full name, date of collection, date of birth, and your signature. An incomplete form is also a rejected sample. It takes a minute and it is the last thing standing between you and your results.
Sending it back
Send it overnight, the same day.
Your kit includes prepaid return packaging with a FedEx overnight label, so there is nothing to pay. Seal the capped tube in the biohazard bag, then put it in the prepaid packaging with the completed form, the way the instructions in your box describe, and drop it at FedEx the same day you collect.
You can drop it at a FedEx Office, a FedEx Ship Center, or a store with a FedEx drop-off, including many Walgreens. Find a FedEx location near you, and get there before that location's last pickup of the day.
For now, drop it off rather than scheduling a FedEx pickup from home, so your sample is not left waiting for a driver.
Ship Monday to Thursday only. A box sent on a Friday would sit over the weekend before the lab could run it.
If you have already collected and cannot ship it the same day, email support@valdura.health and we will tell you what to do.
Downloads
Take the instructions with you.
- Tasso+ Instructions for Use (PDF, 2 pages)The full illustrated step-by-step guide. Same as the sheet in your box.
- Tasso+ product overview (PDF, 2 pages)What the device is, how it works, and its technical specifications.
If you like the technical detail, Tasso also publishes a general overview of how laboratories process their devices. It is written for lab staff and covers their range rather than your kit specifically, so treat it as background reading.
Set up your account before your results arrive.
Your Valdura account is where your results get read line by line and explained in plain English. Do this part now rather than later, so nothing is waiting on you once the lab is finished.
Once in a while the lab cannot report every marker from a sample, for example when there is not quite enough blood for one of the tests. The rest of your results still come through.
- Install the app below, or open Valdura in any browser.
- Sign in with the same email address you used when you bought your kit. We send you a link, so there is no password to remember.
- If that email is not recognized, do not create a second account with a different address. Email us and we will connect it to your kit.
Or open Valdura in any browser and sign in there.
Something not right with your kit, or the collection did not work? Throw the used device away, then email support@valdura.health before you start over. The device is single use, so a fresh attempt needs a fresh kit, and we will send you one.