Apparatus and method for minimally invasive blood sampling

摘要

A blood sampling device for penetrating skin to obtain a blood sample is disclosed. The blood sampling device has a blade structure that can be extended from a housing to pierce the skin and then retracted. The blade structure has at least two blades each including a cutting edge. The blades abut one another to form a rigid joint from which the blades extend. The blades each have a distal portion in which the distance from the rigid joint to the cutting edge decreases towards and terminates at a sharp point at a distal end. Each blade generally forms an angle less than 180 degrees with at least one neighboring blade. This structure decreases the tendency of the blade structure to flex as the distal end of the blade structure penetrates the skin to yield blood.