Single puncture lancing fixture with depth adjustment and control of contact force

Abstract

A lancing mechanism fixture for puncturing skin with a lancet having a penetration end being moveable in a direction substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the lancet, the penetration end being moveable from a first position to a second position during a forward stroke, the penetration end being movable from the second position back to the first position during a return stroke. The motion of the lancet is controlled by a cam mechanism including a slot cam and a cam follower connected to a lancet. A drive member applies a linear force to the slot cam whose linear motion and slot path shape forces the lancet to move from a first position to a second position and back to the first position.

Description

Technical field [0001] The present invention relates generally to blood monitoring devices, and more specifically, to a needle puncture mechanism for piercing the skin of a user to obtain a blood sample for analysis. Background technique [0002] It is often necessary to quickly obtain a blood sample and perform analysis of the blood sample. Preferably, the acquisition of blood is as painless as possible. An example of the need to obtain a blood sample painlessly is associated with a blood glucose monitoring system, in which case the user must frequently use the system to monitor the user's blood glucose level. [0003] Those with abnormal blood glucose levels should monitor their blood glucose levels by themselves. A variety of reasons including diseases such as diabetes may bring about abnormal blood sugar levels. The purpose of monitoring the blood glucose concentration level is to determine the blood glucose concentration level, and then based on whether the blood glucose lev...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

However, the performance of these components is unpredictable due to various factors such as component tolerances

[0007] Another problem associated with many prior art lancing devices is that these devices do not allow the user to accurately control the penetration depth by precisely adjusting the gap between the lancet tip and the skin.

Although some prior art devices employ adjustable end caps to vary the distance between the skin and the lancet tip, due to (a) variations in the length of disposable lancets, and (b) the use of opaque End caps, which prevent the user from visually confirming the distance between the skin and the tip of the needle, the penetration depth may still be inaccurate

Also contributing to this penetration depth issue is that, because the skin is elastic, varying forces applied to the end cap can cause varying degrees of stretching or swelling of the skin relative to the size of the end cap hole , these will change the gap between the skin and the tip of the lancet

None of the prior art lancing devices can control the force applied to the end cap

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