Nobody likes taking bloods. Not the junior doctor trying to find a vein nor his patient on the receiving end. So thankfully, it looks like there is now a medgadget for that.
Seventh Sense Biosystems out of Cambridge, Mass. has been working on a new painless blood collection platform to eliminate the need for needles. According to Seventh Sense, its Touch Activated Phlebotomy (TAP) blood collection platform is designed to optimize the blood collection process by eliminating the pain associated with a conventional needle stick, increasing safety and providing a faster pathway to diagnostic results.
The TAP platform draws blood from the capillaries without having to access a vein. The device penetrates the top layers of the skin using an array of micro-needles through which micro-fluidic channels collect capillary blood. The TAP 20 device is less than 50mm in diameter and can draw up to 20 microliters of blood, while its bigger brother, the TAP 100, will provide a sample of 100 microlitres. Seventh Sense is also working on incorporating point of care diagnostic testing assemblies for integration with the blood collection system.
This week Seventh Sense announced that it has initiated a registration trial for its TAP device and it hopes to receive CE marking and FDA Approvals for it later in the year. We look forward to the results and it will be interesting to see how the device scores on comfort. Finally, budding doctors will have some respite.
Product page: TAP 20…