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Reusable Glucose Strips

 I hate it when I just don’t get enough blood
 
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Sometimes, no matter how good I’ve become with testing sugars, I just don’t get enough blood in my strip. The monitor errors out and I have to start all over again, sometimes even having to prick the finger again. What would be nice is to have a strip that siphons up the blood from said finger/arm and tests from that. The monitor tests the blood and reports the sugar levels. Then, once the test is done and while the strip is still in the monitor the user drops a little liquid into the strip’s mouth that dissolves the blood completely. The monitor should be able to recognize when the blood is gone and report back that it’s ready by continuously polling the strip. I envision the liquid would be alcohol based so that it evaporates before the next testing. Now, instead of buying 100 strips that I hope will last me more then 3 weeks of testing, I can buy 10 strips and reuse them for 8 weeks if I keep them in good condition.
—barnzenen, Jul 22 2003

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       Cool.   

       What is the chemistry of the current test strip? Is it possible to test for glucose using a reversible reaction, or a catalyst / enzyme not consumed by the reaction?
—lurch, Jul 22 2003
   

       As a fellow diabetic, I approve of anything that makes testing easier. However, you'll have to find a way to refresh the strip's glucoreactive (not sure if that's even a real word, but it'll do for the moment) chemicals between testings - simply removing the blood won't do.
—friendlyfire, Jul 22 2003
   

       My wife hates it when I test her sugars, because I *never* fail to get enough blood.
—lurch, Jul 22 2003
   

       Crossaint for making life easier for my mom. On a side note, we use a Onetouch Ultra, the strips of which require a ridiculously small amount of blood to work.
—fogfreak, Jul 22 2003
   

       I didn't think the strips had any (sic) glucoreactive stuffs in them, I though they were just a transport for the blood itself to get to the monitor. But it makes sense, the monitor would get ridiculously messy and contaminated.   

       Fog, yes, we use the ultra and just recently started using the ultra smart. If you have a chance to get an ultra smart please do, it's almost like a palm. You can put you insulin dosages and carb intake and exercise etc. in it and then it will go and graph it for you.
—barnzenen, Jul 22 2003
   

       Tips: Raise the opposite arm for a minute of the hand being sampled to encourage blood accumulation. Before pricking, gently squeeze and move toward the finger tip in a movement to push the blood towards the end. When it is noticeably redder, then prick. Hope this helps.
—kamenmann, Jul 22 2003
   

       I don't know about your test kit, but mine uses strips whose reactive bits change colour in the presence of glucose, and the reader just measures the colour. The container actually has a colour guide on it, which you can use for a manual reading.
—friendlyfire, Jul 22 2003
   

       I beleive that [friendlyfire]'s glucose monitor is probably an ancient or very cheap one (no offense). This is how most of them used to work. [barnezenen] I beleive you're wrong, and the testing is done right in the strip. The biggest reason being that if you look at the diagram in your manual, it shows that the lines on the non-collecting end of the strip are electrical contacts.
—fogfreak, Jul 22 2003
   

       None taken - it is indeed ancient (well, 4 years old), but it was free, so I'm not overly fussed. Frankly, I don't test myself nearly as often as I should, anyway.
—friendlyfire, Jul 23 2003
   


 

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