Patent ID: 8731638

Claim:
An analyte monitoring system comprising: a fluidic system comprising a pump and a network of fluid passageways configured to obtain a sample of bodily fluid; a spectroscopic sample cell in fluid communication with said fluidic system and configured to receive said sample of bodily fluid; an analyte detection system coupled to the spectroscopic sample cell through a transparent window, said analyte detection system spectroscopically analyzing the sample of bodily fluid or a component of the sample of bodily fluid; and a patient connector comprising: an outer connecting structure configured to removably interlock with an outer portion of a standard medical connector to form an interior volume; a tube extending through the outer connecting structure, an interior of the tube forming a fluid path and terminating at a port, the tube configured to extend from the patient connector and protrude into the interior volume in a direction aligned with the fluid path such that the fluid path passes through the interior volume, out of the port and continues in the same direction into a lumen of the standard medical connector, the interior of the tube aligned with the lumen and having a diameter that is similar to a diameter of the lumen to improve fluid flow; and a spring rigidly attached to the tube, the spring configured to exert force on the tube in a direction aligned with the fluid path such that the tube protrudes into the interior volume and resiliently abuts a lumen of the standard medical connector, such that the fluid path passes through the interior volume, out of the port and continues in the same direction into the aligned lumen of the standard medical connector; wherein the analyte detection system is configured to estimate the concentration of an analyte in said sample of the bodily fluid or a component of the sample of the bodily fluid; wherein the fluidic system is fluidically connected to the source of bodily fluid in the patient through the patient connector, said patient connector configured to provide a continuous flow path.