Device for sampling blood droplets under vacuum conditions

Abstract

A blood extraction device ( 100 ) and method for withdrawing a controlled number of drops of blood from a patient, in whom there is created an incision of such dimension that blood does not freely flow therefrom. A release unit ( 160 ) urges drops of blood to flow from the incision, for example by applying a vacuum, and a disabling unit ( 145, 146, 170 ) is coupled to the incision unit for disabling the release unit when a predetermined number of drops of blood have been withdrawn.

1 . A body fluid testing device for performing chemical testing of a body fluid sample, said testing device comprising:
 a chemical test strip holder for receiving a single use chemical test strip on which drops of the fluid are collected;   a drop counting unit responsive to body fluid flowing downwardly and freely on to the chemical test strip for signaling when a predetermined plurality of discrete drops of body fluid have been applied to said chemical test strip;   an optical imaging device for imaging the chemical test result obtained by the chemical test strip; and   an electronic circuit coupled to said imaging device for transmitting data representative of an image of the result to a remote unit.