ABSTRACT
The relation between pain of capillary blood sampling and lancet diameter was studied in 52 healthy subjects. The tips of six fingers were pricked with a Softclix(R) II lancing device using lancets with identical facet geometry but needle diameters of 0.3, 0.4 and 0.8 mm. Two penetration depths (0.9 and 1.2 mm) were applied. Pain intensity and blood volume were recorded.At a puncture depth of 0.9 mm, pain did not differ between the three lancets. Pain increased with penetration depth, and at 1.2 mm the thicker lancets were somewhat more painful than the thinner ones. Blood volumes increased with lancet diameter and penetration depth. If the pain for punctures providing just enough blood for a glucose test (>/=10 µl) was compared, there was no difference between the lancets.It can be concluded that lancet diameter is of minor importance for the patient. Copyright 1999 European Federation of Chapters of the International Association for the Study of Pain.
ABSTRACT
Diabetics would benefit greatly from a device capable of providing continuous noninvasive monitoring of their blood glucose levels. The optical scattering coefficient of tissue depends on the concentration of glucose in the extracellular fluid. A feasibility study was performed to evaluate the sensitivity of the tissue reduced scattering coefficient in response to step changes in the blood glucose levels of diabetic volunteers. Estimates of the scattering coefficient were based on measurements of the diffuse reflectance on the skin at distances of 1-10 mm from a point source. A correlation was observed between step changes in blood glucose concentration and tissue reduced scattering coefficient in 30 out of 41 subjects measured.
