The applicant organization proposes to develop an ultra-miniaturized, minimally invasive diabetes monitoring system for estimating concentrations of diabetes-related parameters (analytes) in whole blood. The system is comprised of analyte specific test tabs and a hand-held meter. The test tabs dose and transport a blood sample in the nanoliter range (approximately 300nL) to an integrated polymeric detection site. The detection site embodies dried chemical reagents capable of reacting with analyte, as well as a polymeric composition capable of absorbing a defined volume of blood plasma while preventing cellular component of blood from penetrating the composition. Cells are wholly removed from the detection site by proprietary chemical and physical mechanisms, thereby obviating the need for a separate cell filtering material and unmasking the detection site for visual or instrumented analysis. Test procedure is streamlined and performance time drastically reduced by consolidating all testing steps into one single disposable device. Primary target markets are point-of-care and self-testing environments.
