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Abstract

The lack of safe, reliable, automated and clinically acceptable blood sampling has been the main problem precluding the development of real-time systems for blood analysis and subsequent closed-loop physiological function control. While the analysis of a static blood sample in laboratory conditions has been rapidly advancing in reliability and blood volume reduction, non-invasive real-time blood analysis performed in vivo (while the blood is circulating in the body) has been elusive and unreliable. In this study we propose an innovative idea for semi-invasive blood sampling and analysis, which resembles the operation of a mosquito. At a miniature scale the proposed system does penetrate the skin to extract a static blood sample for further analysis, but the extent of this penetration, and the fact that it can be made painless, is particularly attractive for such applications as automated glucose analysis for closed-loop control of insulin infusion (artificial pancreas), continuous drug monitoring, or even periodic DNA analysis for security and identification purposes. These design aspects are described, and a specific implementation, applying MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) technology, is suggested. The proposed microsystem is a matrix of individually controllable e-Mosquito.TM. cells, packaged in a disposable patch and attached to the skin, could be an avenue for real-time semi-invasive blood analysis and diagnostics.

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First Claim