Author(s)

Gang Wang, Martin P. Mintchev

Centre for Bioengineering, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.

Semi-invasive blood sampling devices mimic the way female mosquitoes extract blood from a host. They generally consist of a microneedle, a microactuator for needle insertion, a blood extraction mechanism and a blood glucose sensor. These devices have great potential to overcome the major disadvantages of several current blood glucose monitoring methods. Over last two decades, extensive research has been made in all of these related fields. More recently, several wearable devices for semi-invasive blood sampling have been developed. This review aims at summarizing the current state-of-the-art development and utilization of such wearable devices for continuous monitoring of blood glucose levels, with a special attention on design considerations, fabrication technologies and testing methods.

Continuous Blood Glucose Monitoring; Semi-invasive Blood Sampling; Mosquito; Bio-mimetics; BioMEMS; Wearable Devices

G. Wang and M. P. Mintchev, "Development of Wearable Semi-invasive Blood Sampling Devices for Continuous Glucose Monitoring: A Survey," Engineering, Vol. 5 No. 5B, 2013, pp. 42-46. doi: 10.4236/eng.2013.55B009.