Patent ID: 8668819

Claim:
A method for assessing the volume of a sample in a biosensor, comprising: applying a regular polling sequence, where the regular polling sequence substantially eliminates irreversible alteration of the concentration of at least one analyte in the sample during the application of the regular polling sequence; detecting the presence of the sample; then applying an extended polling sequence having at least one different extended input pulse, where the extended polling sequence substantially eliminates irreversible alteration of the concentration of the at least one analyte in the sample during the application of the extended polling sequence; detecting whether a sample volume is sufficient for analysis of the at least one analyte in the sample; and applying a test excitation signal when the sample volume is sufficient for analysis of the at least one analyte in the sample, where the test excitation signal irreversibly alters the concentration of the at least one analyte in the sample during the application of the test excitation signal.