I am cross posting this to the three diabetes lists to which I subscribe
so as to reach a wider audience. If some of you get this more than once,
I apologise.

Thursday, May 2, I was privileged to participate in a test of a device
for taking HbA1c measurements from a drop of blood. The device is named
"A1c Now" and is made by Metrika of Sunnyvale, CA. The test was
conducted in the Endocrinology Department of the International Diabetes
Center in St Louis Park, Minnesota. There were 11 other participants.
The device is 1 1/2 inch square by about 3/8 inch thick black box - it
has a small display window and a little hole where you insert the sample.
The sample consists of a measured amount of blood mixed into a prepared
liquid (prepared in the sense of chemistry and volumetric amount). A
smallish pipette with a ruled marking is made to fill by capillary action
to a demarcation line. I do not have large hands but my fingers are
kinda stubby and I had some difficulty manipulating the pipette. The
contents of the pipette are put into the diluent solution vial which is
then capped and shaken 8 - 10 times. It is easy to miss getting all the
pipetted blood into the diluent ( I had to do it twice ). Then a second
somewhat larger pipette is used to draw off the mixed blood/diluent
solution. This one was much easier to manipulate and was much easier to
fill to the right level. It had a squeeze bulb for drawing solution up
and the draw tube turned to dump excess into a little well. This sample
was them passed into the sample receiving hole in the device. It thence
commenced to process with the display showing the elapsed time. Eight
minutes later, the A1c value was displayed along with date & time
indicated. The A1c Now device produces just one measurement and so is a
'one time use' meter. Nothing was said about being able to download to a
computer or a PDA nor was anything said about how long the display would
last. Price was not quoted but the testing staff said we were to pretend
we had just got home from purchasing are 25 dollar test kit. I have
mixed feelings about the device and would not be ready to dispense with
lab A1c tests quarterly. It might be most useful when getting to a lab
is quite inconvenient. It is my understanding that these testing trials
are going on all over the country (US), so if interested one should
inquire of your health care provider. If I get any queries from Metrika,
I will post them if pertinent.

Jack Ferman, Type 2
Diagnosed 11/99
Minneapolis, Minnesota
ferma001@...