Patent ID: 6605048
Filing Date: 2003-08-12
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
A vacuum device for use in drawing a capillary blood sample from a previously formed puncture site in a patient's skin, comprising:a hollow body having an upper end and a lower end, plunger means having upper and lower ends and adapted to be slidably carried inside said hollow body, said plunger being movable between a depressed position and an upward position, sealing means between said plunger and said hollow body, said sealing means remaining in sealing contact with said body and plunger as said plunger moves in either direction between its depressed and upward positions, a single spring urging said plunger in an upwardly direction, and a cylindrical tip attached to the lower end of the hollow body and located below said spring, said tip forming a vacuum chamber around said puncture site when the plunger is urged upwardly by said single spring, said single spring, said sealing means and said plunger means cooperating to produce a variable strength vacuum in said vacuum chamber depending on how fully said single spring is compressed by said plunger means, wherein said vacuum device includes only one spring and does not include a lancet for forming a puncture.