LIVING
Win a
contour usb
the strip. blood tests also operate on
meter
Preventing interference Just cLick tHe Pic
a very small (2µl) blood sample, taking bayer’s contour next test strips (below) use
10 seconds before being shown on a
for a cHance to
faD-gDH technology and have a built-in Win one!
large, easy-to-read LcD screen. the test correction electrode to protect against
range measured is 1.1 – 33.3 mmol / L interference from common substances.
with coding done via a chip. the meter tested with more than 30 common interfering
features uses a series automatic system substances (such as paracetamol, Vitamin
checks including one for temperature c, maltose, galactose, oxygen) and shown
correction. to demonstrate consistent accuracy. they
have also tested for uric acid which can be
elevated in the blood due to as far-ranging
things as obesity, uncontrolled hypertension,
insulin resistance, gout, excessive exercise
and pre-eclampsia. uric acid levels can affect
blood glucose meter accuracy but bayer’s
contour next meters automatically correct for
uric acid up to a concentration of 3.5mmol/L.
they also have a built-in correction electrode
that automatically measures and corrects
for haematocrit in the range 0-70%, which
reduces the risk of error.
Wave theory
Wavesense is an alternative technology in blood glucose meter testing. there is no
coding involved and one version of the meter is wireless. Wavesense is the name of the
Smart practice brand, but the meters are called Jazz and Jazz Wireless. the patented technology used
the Verio iQ blood test meter needs no
in the meters is called Wavesense Dynamic electrochemistry. What it is designed to do
code and takes only 5 seconds to test
is address how everyday events and conditions can cause a meter to distort the result,
with a glucose range of 1.1 mmol/L – 33.3
so environmental variations (such as temperature, altitude or humidity) that can affect
mmol/L, an haematocrit range of 20% –
the reading are minimized. the meters send electrical signals to the test strip to identify
60% within a temperature testing range
common sources of error then uses advanced algorithms to detect and correct these
of 6-44°c and humidity range of 10%
errors to provide the most accurate results. the meters come with Zero-click blood
– 90% (non-condensing). smartscan
glucose results management software.
technology scans the reaction chamber
500 times over a three-phase application
of voltage. the reversed polarity
of the third phase enables
a comparison
to be made that accounts
for variations in haematocrit
and corrects for common
interfering substances that
are present in a blood sample.
the images show how this
works…. and note that these
sensors (right) even use a tiny
bit of gold in them. class!