Patent ID: 7435384
Filing Date: 2008-10-14
Classification: B82Y,G01N,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A portable, single use instrument for collecting a blood sample from a host subject and testing for the presence or absence of an analyte in the collected blood sample, said instrument including a housing having a size that allows the instrument to be hand held by a user, said housing including an orifice in a portion of the housing providing access to an interior of the housing, a testing chamber within the interior of the housing, said chamber including a detection circuit that provides an indication of the presence or absence of the analyte in a blood sample, within the interior of the housing in advance of the testing chamber a supply of electrically readable particles with an agent attached thereto that binds with the analyte, said electrically readable particles being introduced into a blood sample fed to the testing chamber, said detection circuit including a moveable mounting member within the interior of the housing carrying said pair of electrodes, and a needle in advance of the testing chamber mounted to the mounting member so said needle can be extended through the orifice after said housing portion makes contact with a host subject to withdraw a blood sample from the subject and then be retracted within the interior of the housing to feed the blood sample into the testing chamber, a vacuum being created in the testing chamber upon movement of the mounting member so the sample flows through the needle into the testing chamber.