Blood Testing, Mosquito Style

Electrical engineers from the Schulich School of Engineering at the University of Calgary have patented a skin patch that is a less invasive way for diabetics to monitor their glucose levels. The device is called the Electronic Mosquito and is a patch the size of a deck of cards. Currently, the device contains four micro-needles that draw blood at different times from nearby capillaries without hitting nerves that normally cause the pain response in current methods. This patch can be worn anywhere on the body, as long as it can gain accurate readings from the capillaries. Sensors within the device measure sugar levels and send the information via wireless transmission to a remote device and can warm the patient or doctor when levels become dangerous.

The engineers still want to make improvements to the device. In its current design of four micro-needles, the patch must be changed at least once daily. They want to make the components of the device smaller to be able to add more needles to the patch, allowing the the patient to wear the patch longer and/or test their glucose levels more frequently. Eventually the engineers would like to integrate an insulin pump system so that the device can act as an artificial pancreas based on the Electronic Mosquito's data.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090424114218.htm