Patent ID: 7691071

Claim:
A lancet-integrated sensor comprising: a lancet having a strip-shaped connector and a needle part attached at an end of said connector so as to extend in a direction along the longitudinal direction of said connector for lancing skin of a subject to extract bodily fluid of the subject; and a sensor for analyzing the bodily fluid extracted by said needle part lancing the skin, said sensor including a sensor body having two thin plates bonded together such that said sensor body has a shape of a long and thin strip, with at least one of said two thin plates having a concave portion such that defined within said sensor body is a space and a port at one end of said sensor body in the longitudinal direction of said sensor body, and with said lancet extending through and being confined within said space such that said needle part is positioned so as to be passed through said port and said space, wherein said sensor includes electrodes having a reagent layer that are positioned so as to be exposed to said port such that bodily fluid drawn into said space through said port by capillary action can reach said electrodes, wherein said lancet and said sensor are constructed and arranged such that when bodily fluid is brought into contact with said sensor body after the bodily fluid has been extracted by said needle part lancing the skin upon passing through said port and said space in response to said lancet being driven longitudinally of said sensor body by an external driving device, the bodily fluid is drawn into said space through said port by capillary action, and wherein an end of said lancet, opposite to the end of said connector at which said needle part is attached, comprises a projecting part that projects from said sensor body, said projecting part having an end portion which can be grasped by the external driving device of an external measurement apparatus, and the external driving device of the external measurement apparatus being engaged with said projecting part so that said lancet can be reciprocally driven along the longitudinal direction of said sensor body.