Patent ID: 8858583

Claim:
A lancing device, comprising: an outer housing comprising an outer housing wall having a first end, a second end defining a lancing opening, and a chamber extending between the first and second ends that includes a central axis, wherein the outer housing wall comprises a material that allows the outer housing wall to accumulate heat; a Peltier device for absorbing heat from a patient's skin and passing heat to the outer housing wall, the Peltier device comprising: a hot side having a hot surface in thermal contact with the outer housing wall; a cold side having a cold surface interconnected to the hot side, the cold side adapted to receive heat from the patient's skin and pass the heat to the hot side; and a central aperture extending through the Peltier device between the hot and cold surfaces, wherein the central aperture includes a central axis, and wherein the central axes of the chamber and the central aperture are substantially collinear; a lancet translationally mounted within the chamber for movement between at least a cocked position and a lancing position, the lancet having a lancet tip configured for contact with the patient's skin in the lancing position; a cooling ring for cooling the patient's skin, the cooling ring including a first surface in thermal contact with the cold surface, an opposed second surface configured for contact with the patient's skin, and a central aperture extending through the cooling ring between the first and second surfaces for receipt of the lancet tip in the lancing position, wherein the central aperture of the cooling ring includes a central axis, and wherein the central axis of the chamber, the central axis of the Peltier device and the central axis of the cooling ring are substantially collinear; and a power source mounted within the outer housing that is electrically interconnected to the Peltier device, wherein a temperature of the cold side is adapted to decrease and a temperature of the hot side is adapted to increase when the power source passes a current through the Peltier device.