[Diabetes-Talk] Gadgets or devices to help find that elusive drop of blood.

Wed Nov 21 22:24:32 UTC 2018

What a nurse looks for when doing a finger stick or alternate site stick
is pink skin on an area without bone close to the skin.  It's a color
thing, but if a device can't pick out pink on skin success probabilities
are likely to be on the low side.

On Tue, 20 Nov 2018, Veronica Elsea via Diabetes-Talk wrote:

> Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2018 19:06:30
> From: Veronica Elsea via Diabetes-Talk <diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org>
> To: 'Diabetes Talk for the Blind' <diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Veronica Elsea <veronica at laurelcreekmusic.com>
> Subject: Re: [Diabetes-Talk] Gadgets or devices to help find that elusive drop
>      of blood.
>
> Back in the late 90's and early 2000's, I used a meter called Sof-tact. It
> was an alternate site meter but boy did I love it. Its main drawback is that
> it was fairly large. But you opened up what felt like a clamb shell. You put
> the stabber in the bottom and there was a slot where the strip went in the
> top. Then you closed the lid. The cool thing was that you could carry it
> around with you like that so it was easy to test in public. When you wanted
> to test, you'd push a button to turn it on. Then you'd hold the top of the
> meter against your arm or palm of your hand and push the button again. The
> stabber would come up through a hole in the strip and then it would make
> this annoying sound as the vacuum schlurped up the blood. When it had
> enough, it would let go of your arm, and then it would beep and display the
> result on the screen. For those with low vision, it was marvelous because
> the numbers were really big. I either had to ask someone or connect it to a
> computer to read my number. I did get it to work with my Braille 'n Speak at
> the time. Boy was I sorry when it was discontinued. You just couldn't screw
> it up.
> The problems I had with any gadget I tried to invent was the variation in
> the thickness of the blood. If there was a lot of blood, it would run under
> and all over the gadget and quite the contrary if there wasn't really
> enough. You'd have to figure out how your gadget would know when there was
> enough, which is tricky when you have today's strips which kind of
> Start sucking up the blood when they first come in contact. If you wait too
> long before making contact with your finger, if you're me, the darn drop of
> blood would have already fallen off, if it existed in the first place.
> <grin>
> So with today's meters, since they don't require much, I went back to
> milking my finger and trying to either remember what I did or notice where
> the pain is. <grin>
> But I always applaud thinking and enginuity. If you come up with anything,
> oh please do spill the beans here. Thanks so much.
> Veronica
>
> "Guide Dogs, First Hand", Veronica Elsea's classic album is now available on
> iTunes, along with other music from her and from the Guide Dog Glee Club.
> To learn more, visit:
> http://www.laurelcreekmusic.com
> ????????????????Veronica Elsea, Owner
> Laurel Creek Music Designs
> Santa Cruz, California
> Phone: 831-429-6407
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Diabetes-Talk [mailto:diabetes-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
> Paul Magill via Diabetes-Talk
> Sent: Monday, November 19, 2018 3:35 AM
> To: Diabetes Talk for the Blind
> Cc: Paul Magill
> Subject: [Diabetes-Talk] Gadgets or devices to help find that elusive drop
> of blood.
>
> Hi all,
>
>
>
> I have the same problem some others do, in becoming quite frustrated trying
> to get the glucometer test strip on to the drop of blood.
>
>
>
> I'm hoping to come up with something to help do that, and would like some
> advice, comments and any suggestions.
>
>
>
> My first thought was a thin plastic ring like band, that is not quite afull
> ring, so it can expand to fit any size finger.
>
>
>
> There could be a hole in the ring just large enough for the point of the
> test strip to go through, and a couple of concentric circles of slightly
> raised plastic around that hole, so the lancet device could be aligned so
> the stabber would go through the same hole.
>
>
>
> The idea is that the lancet is fired through the hole in the ring, and the
> usual pushing or squeezing of the finger to raise the drop of blood is done.
> The thickness of the plastic would contain the drop so it could not move,
> and  the test strip could easily be maneuvered into the hole to get the
> blood.  Of course, the ring would need to be fairly thin, perhaps 1/32 inch,
> a bit less than a millimetre, and the depth of the lancet set greater so it
> could still reach the required depth in the skin.
>
>
>
> Another thought is to make a loop of wire just a little larger than the
> width of the test strip.  The loop would lie flat on the skin to contain the
> blood drop, and the remaining ends of the wire pressed around the finger so
> the loop wouldn't move. Trouble would be firing the lancet through that
> loop, and what sort of wire would not interact with the blood or the test
> strip?
>
>
>
> With such a gadget, If no drop of blood was raised, then you would know
> that, and could squeeze or lancet again, rather than thinking the drop was
> simply missed.
>
>
>
> Do you know, if these, or any other gadgets have been tried?
>
>
>
> Do you know whether any glucometer manufacturers have looked at
> encorperating a lancet like device into the meter, so the actual glucometer
> stabs the test strip into the skin, obtaining the blood directly?
>
>
>
> Yes, I've been reading the recent posts about the Dexcom G6 and would like
> to use it, but here in Australia, it is very expensive, and not covered by
> our otherwise quite good health system, so I'm looking for a better way to
> use the very much cheaper glucose meters.
>
>
>
> All comments welcome, even if it is, it has been tried before, and they
> didn't work because...
>
>
>
> With much thanks,
>
> Paul
>
>
>
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