The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 22, 2005
Filed:
Dec. 02, 2000
Hiroshi Nomura, Shorewood, MN (US);
Arthur R. Kydd, St. Paul, MN (US);
August R. Hanson, Rosemount, MN (US);
Robert J. Petersen, Minneapolis, MN (US);
Hiroshi Nomura, Shorewood, MN (US);
Arthur R. Kydd, St. Paul, MN (US);
August R. Hanson, Rosemount, MN (US);
Robert J. Petersen, Minneapolis, MN (US);
QuestStar Medical, Inc., Eden Prairie, MN (US);
Abstract
A wicking material is disclosed that exhibits a horizontal wicking velocity of at least about 1.0 millimeter per second when contacted with a physiological fluid such as blood, lymph or cellular interstitial fluid. This high wicking rate is achieved by means of treatment of a fibrous wicking material candidate with a low temperature gas plasma, particularly a glow discharge gas plasma formed in a gaseous blend made up predominantly of a mixture of oxygen with a saturated alkane chosen from the group consisting of methane, ethane and propane. Diagnostic test strips made with the surface-modified wicking material, and containing an immobilized reagent means for analysis of an analyte in a physiological fluid, show improved performance in terms of increased accuracy, finer precision of analyses, reduced time of analysis, a smaller fluid sample size requirement, and improved compliance with manufacturing standards resulting in lower manufacturing costs blood sugar determinations.