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E-mosquito to replace invasive methods of drawing blood samples |
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Electrical engineers at the Schulich School of Engineering at the University of Calgary have patented a device named the Electronic Mosquito or e-Mosquito, which will replace the invasive methods of drawing blood samples from diabetics to check glucose levels.
Electronic Mosquito is a patch around the size of a deck of cards which contains four micro-needles that `bite` successively at programmed intervals.
The common method of drawing blood from fingertips and using glucose testing strips and metres can be painful, inconvenient and time-consuming.
The needles of e-Mosquito are electronically controlled to penetrate the skin deep enough to draw blood from a capillary, but not deep enough to hit a nerve, which means patients would experience little or no pain. The patch could be worn anywhere on the body where it could obtain accurate readings of capillary blood.
A sensor in each cell of the e-Mosquito measures sugar levels in the blood. This data can then be sent wirelessly to a remote device such a computer or a monitoring instrument worn on the wrist. The system could even be connected to an alarm to alert patients or doctors when blood sugar levels enter the danger zone.
According to Martin Mintchev, director of the Low Frequency Instrumentation Lab at the Schulich School of Engineering, "This is a dramatic improvement over manual poking, particularly for children and elderly patients. Our approach is radically different and offers a reliable, repeatable solution with the minor inconvenience of wearing something similar to an adhesive bandage."
Mintchev was involved three years to design the e-Mosquito along with Karan Kaler, director of the Schulich School`s Bio-Micro Electromechanical Systems (MEMS) Lab.
Now, they aim to make the components of the e-Mosquito smaller to fit more needles on the patch. At present, there are four needles, so the patch would need to be changed at least once a day, as per a Calgary release.
With the addition of more needles, it would allow patients to wear the patch for longer periods of time or test their blood more frequently, even while they`re asleep.
(Posted on : 27/04/2009)
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| E-mosquito to replace invasive methods of drawing blood samples |
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