Patent ID: 8404102

Claim:
A method for determining an analyte concentration in a physiological sample, the method comprising the steps of: (a) introducing the physiological sample into an electrochemical cell comprising: (i) first and second electrodes in a spaced apart relationship; and (ii) a reagent layer comprising an enzyme and a mediator; (b) detecting the presence of sample in said electrochemical cell; (c) applying a first electric potential having a first polarity to the electrochemical cell and measuring cell current as a function of time to obtain a first time-current transient immediately after said detecting step; (d) applying a second electric potential having a second polarity to the cell, wherein the second polarity is opposite the first polarity, and measuring cell current as a function of time to obtain a second time-current transient; and (e) calculating a first current value from the second time-current transient; (f) calculating a second current value from the second time-current transient and a third current value from the first time-current transient; (g) calculating a ratio which comprises the second current value divided by the third current value; and (h) multiplying the first current value less a background value by the ratio to derive analyte concentration wherein steps (c) through (h) occur in less than about 10 seconds from an occurrence of step (b).