Patent ID: 9713426
Date: 2017-07-25
CPC Classifications: A61B,A61M

Claim:
1. A blood sampling device that samples blood from a blood vessel under a patient's skin, comprising: a light projection unit which has a light projection axis having a first predetermined angle to a normal line of a predetermined irradiated surface and which projects a near-infrared ray in a direction toward the normal line at or below said predetermined irradiated surface; a spectral lens which is located at the same side as a side where the light projection unit is located relative to the irradiated surface, which receives a reflected light beam of the near-infrared ray projected by the light projection unit, which disperses the reflected light beam, and which has an optical axis having a second predetermined angle to the normal line of the irradiated surface; a light receiving unit having a plurality of photodiodes, a set of multiple photodiodes among the plurality of photodiodes receiving a part of the dispersed reflected light beam, at least said set of the multiple photodiodes having an arrangement that facilitates determining depth position of the blood vessel, said arrangement being along a photodiode line within a plane including said normal line, said optical axis, said photodiode line being inclined relative to said optical axis so as to be neither parallel nor perpendicular to said optical axis; a processing unit which calculates said depth position of the blood vessel in a direction of the normal line, based on a position of a photodiode, among the plurality of photodiodes, whose illuminance is smaller than a threshold within an illuminance distribution of the dispersed reflected light beam received by the plurality of photodiodes; a contact surface configured to make contact with said skin and having a puncture aperture; and a needle projecting unit comprising a puncture button and a needle, the needle being for use in blood sampling, the needle projecting unit configured to project the needle in response to actuation of said puncture button, the needle projecting unit automatically projecting said needle from a position in which the needle is arranged inside said blood sampling device to a position in which at least a portion of the needle projects outside the blood sampling device through said puncture aperture with aiming to the depth position of the blood vessel calculated based on position of said photodiode, among the set of multiple photodiodes, receiving the dispersed reflected light beam from the blood vessel, so as to project a tip of the needle into the blood vessel; and wherein the intersection of the light projection axis and the optical axis of the spectral lens is located at a side opposite to the side where the light projection unit and the spectral lens are located relative to the irradiated surface; wherein the light projection unit irradiates a light beam of the near-infrared ray on the irradiated surface through the puncture aperture; and wherein the spectral lens is configured to disperse the reflected light beam through the puncture aperture.