Patent ID: 8460210

Claim:
A lancing system for blood extraction, comprising: a first tubular body having a central longitudinal axis, a lancing end and a longitudinally opposite free end, the lancing end including a sealing device for sealingly engaging a surface to be lanced; a lancing assembly coupled to the body, the lancing assembly having a lance coupler slideably coupled with the lancing end of the body; a main shaft slideably coupled with the body along the longitudinal axis, the main shaft having an actuating end disposed inside the body; a first piston coupled to the main shaft and slideably and sealably disposed within the body, the first piston being biased toward a rest position; wherein the body forms at least a portion of a vacuum chamber when the sealing device engages the surface to be lanced, the vacuum chamber being in fluid communication with the surface; a valveless opening through a wall of the tubular body that allows fluid communication between the vacuum chamber and an atmosphere surrounding the lancing system when the first piston is in the rest position, the rest position being between the valveless opening and the free end of the tubular body; and wherein the lancing assembly is adapted to create a vacuum prior to lancing and dissipate the vacuum at a controlled rate by allowing air to flow into the vacuum chamber from the atmosphere through the opening.