Method and apparatus for non-invasive monitoring of blood substances using self-sampled tears
First Claim
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1. A method for determining the concentration of a substance in blood, the method comprising:
- providing a test apparatus having a sample inlet;
engaging an eye region of a user with the sample inlet to obtain a tear fluid sample;
processing the tear fluid sample using the test apparatus to determine a tear substance concentration; and
correlating the determined tear substance concentration with a blood substance concentration.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for non-invasively determining the concentration of a substance in blood, such as glucose, include a sample portion arranged for contacting an eye region of a user to obtain a tear fluid sample, a sensor in communication with the sample portion for generating a signal related to the tear substance concentration, and a processor in communication with the sensor for determining a blood substance concentration corresponding to the tear substance concentration.
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Citations
70 Claims
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1. A method for determining the concentration of a substance in blood, the method comprising:
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providing a test apparatus having a sample inlet;
engaging an eye region of a user with the sample inlet to obtain a tear fluid sample;
processing the tear fluid sample using the test apparatus to determine a tear substance concentration; and
correlating the determined tear substance concentration with a blood substance concentration. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method for determining glucose concentration in a tear fluid sample, the method comprising:
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providing a test apparatus having a sample inlet arranged for contacting an eye region of a user;
engaging the eye region with the sample inlet to obtain the tear fluid sample; and
processing the tear fluid sample using the test apparatus to determine the glucose concentration in the tear fluid sample. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
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18. A method for determining blood glucose concentration, the method comprising:
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providing a test apparatus including a sample portion, the sample portion having an enzyme provided therein;
engaging an eye region of a user with the sample portion to obtain a tear fluid sample;
reacting the tear fluid sample with the enzyme to generate a signal related to the tear glucose concentration;
processing the signal using the test apparatus to obtain a blood glucose concentration corresponding to the tear glucose concentration; and
providing an output indicative of the blood glucose concentration. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. An apparatus for determining the concentration of a substance in blood, the apparatus comprising:
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a sample portion arranged for contacting an eye region of a user to obtain a tear fluid sample;
a sensor in communication with the sample portion for generating a signal related to the tear substance concentration; and
a processor in communication with the sensor for determining a blood substance concentration corresponding to the tear substance concentration. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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42. An apparatus for determining glucose concentration in a tear fluid sample, the apparatus comprising:
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a sample portion arranged for contacting an eye region of a user to obtain a tear fluid sample;
a sensor in communication with the sample portion for generating a signal related to the glucose concentration in the tear fluid sample; and
a processor in communication with the sensor for processing the signal to determine the tear glucose concentration. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45)
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46. An apparatus for determining glucose concentration in blood, the apparatus comprising:
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a sample portion having an inlet arranged for contacting an eye region of a user to obtain a tear fluid sample, the sample portion having an enzyme provided therein for initiating a reaction with the tear fluid sample;
a sensor in communication with the sample portion for detecting a signal generated by the reaction;
a processor in communication with the sensor for determining a tear glucose concentration from the detected signal and correlating the determined tear glucose concentration with a blood glucose concentration; and
means for providing an output indicative of the blood glucose concentration. - View Dependent Claims (47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57)
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58. A probe for obtaining a tear fluid sample, the probe comprising:
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an input end arranged to contact an eye region of a user to obtain the tear fluid sample;
a probe body in communication with the input end and having components provided therein for generating a reaction with a substance in the tear fluid sample; and
an output end in communication with the probe body and arranged to be removably mated with a test apparatus for determining a concentration of the substance in the tear fluid sample. - View Dependent Claims (59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69)
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70. A probe for obtaining a tear fluid sample, the probe comprising:
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an input end arranged to contact an eye region of a user to obtain the tear fluid sample;
a probe body in communication with the input end and having an enzyme provided therein for generating a reaction with glucose contained in the tear fluid sample; and
an output end in communication with the probe body and arranged to be removably mated with a test apparatus for determining the concentration of glucose in the tear fluid sample.
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Specification