Showing posts with label test. Show all posts
Showing posts with label test. Show all posts

What are Diabetes Test Strips and How Do They Work

Sunday, May 11, 2014


Today diabetes glucose meter strips has made it possible for diabetic patients to manage this disease on their own. Diabetic Test Strips are revolutionary products that hve been developed and improved since past several years to give exact results and allow people suffering from diabetes to control it and lead a healthy life.

Blood sugar test strips being used by people today are based on the detection technology known as blood analyte levels. This was applied for a patent in 1994 and got the approval in 1996. Kevin J. Phillips is the first inventor of these diabetic strips.

In the beginning it was difficult for people suffering from diabetes to test their blood sugar levels on their own. This difficulty was because of the complicated equipments that were necessary to find the analytes present in the human blood originally. The equipments that were used originally were known as spectroscopic and spectroscopy equipments that were too big in size and were quite expensive to be effectively used by an individual for himself.

Diabetes test strips earlier used to change color due to the occurrence of a chemical reaction that takes place between the chemicals present in the blood and the chemicals present on the strip. The change in color indicated the level of glucose in the human blood. A standard scale was mentioned on a chart and the diabetic patient had to simply match the color of the testing strip with the color mentioned on the chart to know his glucose levels.

It is important to use good quality strips and to check the expiry date before purchasing. Expired strips produce incorrect test results. Theore, strips taken out from a package should be used within a specific period of time and should be opened only when the patient is ready for the test.
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Undertaking the Glucometer Test – The Steps Involved

Monday, May 5, 2014


Health care practitioners usually recommend their patients to keep a check glucose levels regularly. In fact, this is an obligatory routine diabetics must maintain at any cost. Doctors prepare a schedule for patients wherein they mention perfect diet, exercise regimen, and treatment to help maintain a healthy body. The schedule is based on glucose readings. This means that the patient needs to be comfortable with the idea of self testing glucose levels in the body. Blood Test for Sugar is not a difficult process as one can do it within the privacy of home in no time! Using Glucometer will help.
What’s the Process?
Prepare the Lancet
First and foremost, you must prepare the lancet device. The device will prick your skin. So you need to insert a lancet into the device and then push down until you hear a click.
The Steps Involved
Step 1
As soon as you hear a click, twist the top off the lancet to make the needle visible. Make sure you maintain a distance from lancet button to avoid accidental pushing.
Step 2
The glucose strips box will have a unique code. Take a strip out of the container and close it back immediately to avoid ruining other strips.
Step 3
You must push the glucose strip into the glucometer to get a pre-coded data. Proceed to the next step of you get info similar to that of the box code. In case, there’s a difference, you must change it through pushing the button on the left side.
Step 4
Choose the pressure setting on the lancet glucometer. This is actually pressure you per to prick your skin. The normal range is from 1 to 5. Very low setting will not give results whereas too high will hurt. So you need to determine the setting that works best for you while undertaking a Diabetes Test.
Step 5
Select the area you wish to prick for diabetes test. Pull down the glucometer lancet and slide on the area.
Step 6
Take the glucometer to blood source and hold it against the glucose strip. Allow the strip to absorb blood. You will soon see a symbol being displayed in the glucometer window. This is to indicate whether or not it has adequate blood to process. The glucose level will soon be displayed on the window.
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Understanding the Significance of Diabetes Blood Sugar Test Strips

Friday, April 4, 2014

Diabetes blood sugar test strips are plastic made sheets to hold blood sample taken out from the finger tip of the diabetic. As these strips are to be used with a glucometer, it should be confirmed whether the strip fits well with the glucose measuring device on hand. Automatic glucometers with strips incorporated inside are also available.

Blood glucose test strips are part of the technique that is used to measure blood glucose levels. The test strip is placed in a blood glucose meter to help you read your blood glucose levels by having blood dropped on them or drawn into them. Some of the blood glucose test strips below are meant to be paired with specific meters, while others can be paired with the meter of your choice. Now, some meters use blood sampling discs that are loaded once for multiple tests.


Diabetes Blood Sugar Test Strips are the disposable part of the Glucometer, that contains chemicals like glucose oxidase-the main component that reacts with blood sugar. Most models of Glucometer use plastic test strips, perfectly designed to fit into a specific meter, and the meter-strip system functions using different mechanisms-light lected from the strip or electricity generated due to chemical reaction in the strip. While plastic test strips are for one time use, some models of Glucometer avail the reusable feature of discs for several readings.

The test strips are unique for a specific model of Glucometer, hence each strip comes with a particular code, usually found on the vial of the strip or on a chip, for the user to enter. The meter gets calibrated by entering the code and ready to use. Some of the strips available on the market allow microchip to be directly inserted into the meter.
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