There are over 25 types of blood glucose meters available in the market today and approved by U S FDA. To pick the right one for your home, you should seek advice from your own health care provider particularly your diabetes educator. Ideally, let him/her recommend one for you.

Today, we are going to share with you some tips to help you in making the right choice.

Accuracy

Apart from avoiding the common mistakes that affect the accuracy of blood glucose test reading, the quality of the meter itself plays an important role. Obviously you may think that a better quality meter would usually cost more, this may not be true in certain cases. What we recommend is to get one and bring it along during the next visit to your health care provider. Compare the results with their blood glucose test or equipment to check for accuracy.

Complexity

Think about whether a simple meter suits you better or you would prefer one that is more complicated yet giving you better features. If it is meant for an old folk with difficulty in handling the complexity, obviously something simple with ease of use will be more appropriate for him or her.

Combination

What if you have high blood pressure (hypertension) as well as diabetes (hyperglycemia)? Will you be carrying 2 different meters around? There are meters that combines the 2 or even more different functions into a single but it may cost more.

Size and Weight

Size really matters when you need to carry the meter everywhere you go. Go for one that is portable, light-weight and compact in size so that you can put into your bag or even pocket easily before travelling.

Display Size and Location of Buttons

If you have reading difficulty, it is recommended to go for one that has larger display and easy to  press buttons so that you will not press wrongly. This is especially useful for old folks too.

Memory Capacity

Different meters have different amount of memory storage capacity. Some can hold hundreds of test records over a period of time while others can only hold records over a few days. If you need to monitor your blood glucose over a longer period, you should opt for one with bigger memory capacity.

Size of Blood Sample

Some people have problem squeezing enough blood sample for testing which results in giving false reading. If the patient has this problem, choose a meter that requires lesser blood sample to operate correctly.

Frequent Test

If you are someone being treated under intensive insulin therapy and require frequent testing, you should get one that is better quality and keep it handy each time you need to use it whether in your office or at home.

Size of Test Strip

Obviously you need to have a test strip that is large enough so that each time when you inserted it, you can easily pull it out after reading.

This article is only meant for informational use and may not be used as medical or health care advices for yourself. For any concern, you should always seek proper and professional advices from your own health care provider.

In previous article which describes what is a GlucoWatch (a wrist watch version of blood glucose meter), we share with you about this new painless technology of blood glucose testing where fluid is extracted through the human skin and glucose level in the fluid is measured using the device (GlucoWatch) to determine your blood sugar level.

There are some important facts which are worth mentioning for your knowledge before getting one.

1. In March 2001, FDA (U.S. Food Drug And Food Administration) has approved the use of GlucoWatch as a prescription device for adults with diabetes.
2. In August 2002, FDA has approved the use of GlucoWatch for use by children and adolescents with diabetes.
3. A new calibration of the device through the use of a finger-stick blood glucose test is required every 13 hours when a new skin pad is replaced to ensure accuracy of the meter results.
4. Individual GlucoWatch readings should not be used to determine and make changes to the insulin dosage. It is recommended that you should take several readings over time and confirm it with a finger stick blood glucose test.
5. Readings might be skipped when patients perspire especially during exercise or in an extremely hot humid environment.
6. Patients may develop rashes on the skin that come directly in contact with the watch. However, this may not apply to every patient as different people has different skin condition.

Overall, a GlucoWatch is a valuable tool you can add on to your list.

Most blood glucose testing meters sold in the market are precise and accurate since they have been heavily tested and checked by the experts in labs before approval for sale. In most circumstances, the accuracy of test reading are affected by mistakes made by consumers or users whom are doing the test. Here are 8 common mistakes that we have observed.

1. Contaminated meter or testing strip

Meters that have not been properly cleaned and contaminated with old blood may cause false high or low readings. Testing strips that have been used should be thrown away after each use. In addition, storage of strips should be secured at all times with the cap tightened.

2. Meter or testing strip not within the normal room temperature

Meters or testing strips that are exposed to either too high or too low room temperature will cause false reading. Be reminded that you should always keep all your blood testing equipments in a dry and normal environment. Avoid them from the reach of your children if possible.

3. Expired or used testing strip

Strips that have been outdated or used in previous test should be kept away whenever a new test is to be performed as they may affect the result too.

4. Uncalibrated meters

You should calibrate your meter for it to have a correct code matching the test strips you are going to use. Always remember to perform your calibration before any test to ensure reading accuracy. As some meters calibrate automatically, you may like to put this into consideration when choosing your blood glucose meter.

5. Too little or large drop of blood

Too small a drop of patient blood for testing may also give a false low reading. Patients should remain calm and relaxed at all times. In addition, there should not be an over-squeezed amount of blood too.

6. Strip not fully inserted (may sound silly but it really happens)

One most common mistake is that the testing strip is not fully inserted into the meter while performing test. Most people are usually not aware or ignorant about this. Learn more about how to correctly perform a blood glucose test using a meter.

7. Low in battery

When low in battery, the performance of the meter may be affected and thus resulted in unreliable results. In worse case, it may cause the inability to power on the device or sudden failure of the device due to dead batteries.

8. Patients with anemia or dehydration symptoms

Test conducted on patients with anemia or dehydration symptoms may face false high reading problem too.

Always bear these 8 factors or mistakes in mind before performing any glucose test at home as an undesirable false reading may be in worse case, cost a human life.

A Blood Glucose Meter comes with the following advantages,

• portable and convenient, yet inexpensive.

• short testing time (only 3 – 60 secs depending on different models).

• can be a life saver during an emergency.

However, a Blood Glucose Meter does come with the following disadvantages too,

• accuracy is a concern as it can be false positive to hypoglycemia (low blood glucose). Immediate measurement to hypoglycemia may seem higher than hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) which makes it less useful.

• some models cannot perform test without light.

(Tips)

Certain newer models of Blood Glucose Meter like Optium Xceed by Abbott Diabetes Care, comes with back-light functions which comes in handy when you are in cinema, or if you not want to wake up your partner in the middle of the night.

There are certain features of a Blood Glucose Meter which are important for you to know so that you understand how it works and know how to read the results too.

As different brands and models of Blood Glucose Meter have their own features, you should hence check your own user manual or product manufacturer to find out more.

1. Measurement Range Of Different Meter Models

Most Blood Glucose Meters come with a broad range of measurement values from as low as 0 to as high as 600 mg/dL. However, as the range is different among models, you should interpret individual meters’ low and high values carefully.

2. Calibration For Meters

As time passes, your glucose readings might not be linear over the entire range. If you happen to come across very high or very low values which you suspect could be due to inaccuracy, you should perform a calibration for your meter. Kindly refer to your manufacturer’s user manual for instructions.

3. Cleaning And Maintenance

To clean and maintain a good meter, you should first check with your manufacturer on the correct method to do so. Refer to your manufacturer’s website if you are not able to contact them easily. Below are some general tips when it comes to cleaning a meter.

Dos:

• Clean your meter with only soap and water using dampened soft cloth.
• Clean your meter regularly to maintain its accuracy.

Don’ts:

• Avoid using glass or abrasive cleaners, cleansers with ammonia, or alcohols.
• Avoid damaging the sensitive parts of the meter.

If you have an important feature or useful tip on Blood Glucose Meter to share, kindly drop a comment below for us.

A Blood Glucose Meter is the key element of home blood glucose monitoring (HBGM) commonly used by diabetic (hyperglycemia) patients or patients low in blood glucose (hypoglycemia). As a Blood Glucose Meter is designed to be convenient and portable, it is typically purchased by patients’ family members or their closed ones to be used in their residential homes, or used by health organizations in their mobile blood testing or health checkup stations for simple blood test.

People should not use a Blood Glucose Meter for the purpose of comprehensive blood test eg. checking of full blood count or platelet count in your blood (haematology). Instead, you should visit your nearby medical clinic or hospital since they have the right facilities there.

(Tips)

It is recommended that all families with elders should keep a Blood Glucose Meter in their first-aid box at home regardless of whether they are ill or not, since it is affordable in cost and can be a life saver when there is an emergency.

Related Articles :

- What Are The Purpose Of A Blood Glucose Meter?

- How To Perform A Blood Glucose Test Using A Blood Glucose Meter?

Performing a blood glucose test can be rather straightforward but not all the tests work the same way with different Blood Glucose Meters. The steps in this article can only serve as general guide to help you carry out a proper blood glucose test. For more in-depth explanation and live demonstration, you should seek assistance from a certified diabetes educator. He/she should watch you test your own glucose to make sure that you really understand how to operate the meter correctly.

Step By Step To Perform A Blood Glucose Test :

1. Prepare and get everything ready before you begin. Be sure that you know how to understand the meter’s reading.

• Blood Glucose Meter
• Disposable Test Strip
• Lancet Device And Disposable Lancet
  
• Cleaning Alcohol
• Drying Cloth

Important : Do not re-use any of the disposable items above for safety purposes.

2. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and warm water and dry your hands completely.

3. Clean the fingertip affected area (the part which you are going to work on) with alcohol and dry it completely.

4. Prick the tip of your finger with a lancet device. Hold down your hand and hold your finger until you see a small drop of blood appears. Quickly catch the blood with the test strip.

5. Insert the test strip (the edge with the blood) into the meter and wait for the test result to appear (usually a beeping sound will be heard).

6. Record the test result.

7. Dispose away the used test strip and lancet.

It is important that you should read the user manual thoroughly that comes with the meter so that you know how to use it correctly. You should know how to read the meter’s reading and able to interpret any error code which might be displayed on it.

How often do you use your meter depends on the recommendation of your health care provider. Diabetes patients are strongly encouraged to use it more so that your blood glucose level can be monitored closely.

A Blood Glucose Test Strip is usually a plastic strip embeds with chemicals that will cause a reaction when they come in contact with the glucose in your blood. A glucose meter is able to measure this reaction and generate the result in a numeric form that represents the level of glucose in your blood and displays it. The numeric result can be presented either in mg/dl (milligrams per decilitre) or mmol/l (millimoles per litre).

A Blood Glucose Test Strip is disposable and should only be used once. It is an essential component when coming to blood glucose testing. Without it, a glucose meter will be totally unusable. Hence it is always essential to ensure a continuous supply of non-expired test strips.

Where To Purchase And Price Range :

A typical Blood Glucose Meter usually come with 10 – 20 Test Strips (as bundled) for FREE. Test Strips can also be purchased separately in multiples of 50 or 100 with price varies, either online (shipping costs incurred) or directly from any medical store.

Important :

To ensure accurate measurement, it is strongly recommended that you should use glucose test strips that are recommended for the particular make and model of glucose meter you are using. Make sure you read the owners manual that comes with your meter for this.

More Information :

- In June 2008, the FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) reported that some patients were using LifeScan OneTouch Ultra test strips with Abbott Precision Xtra meters which resulted in false and misleading low glucose readings. Read more information here.

- A Blood Glucose Test Strip is not the same as Pregnancy Test Strip nor Urine Test Strip.

Yes, there is! A Talking Blood Glucose Meter is a specialized glucose meter that is designed for the blind or low-visioned diabetics without any assistance. In short, it walks the patient through the blood glucose testing process with audible (talking) step by step instructions and provides the test results through voice too. Such meters are totally audible and are “Auto-code” (No-Coding required) which means lesser steps and lower chances of false results due to coding error.

How It Works Actually?

Users simply inserts the test strip from the top of the meter. The meter will be automatically turned on and he or she will then be guided through the testing steps with voice prompts. Test results will be heard after 6 seconds with time and date as well as any memory or error code. The best part is, if any voice message is not heard properly at any step, the user can easily press a button to repeat the last message or test results again.

Another distinguished feature of this meter is the design of the buttons. Its tactile feature allows visually-impaired users to feel and locate the different buttons easily. Buttons also come with raised imprint to allow users to feel and identify them with ease.

Other Features :

• Lesser blood sample needed (0.6 micro-liter drop of blood) means finer gauge lancets to significantly reduce your pain which testing.
• Alternate site testing other than finger tips (eg. palms, forearms or upper arms etc).

Example :

Prodigy AutoCode Talking Flash Glucode Meter

A Continuous Blood Glucose Meter is basically an FDA-approved device and commonly used by diabetes health care team, to measure and record your blood glucose levels through the day and night, and provide the average result for 3 to 7 days, while you continue your daily activities at home.

How It Works?

• A tiny glucose sensing device (known as “sensor”) will be inserted either 45-degree or 90-degree under the skin of your abdomen to measure your glucose level in the tissue every 10 seconds.
• Result will be sent to a pager-sized device (known as “monitor”) which is usually attached to your belly. An average glucose value will be recorded every 5 mins.
• Calibration will take place at different times of the day eg. every 12 hours and you can also record other information like any insulin taken, meals or snacks consumed, or exercise done, into the monitor.
• After the monitoring period, the sensor will then be removed by your diabetes health care team and all information stored will be downloaded into the computer for analysis. Results can be presented in graphs or charts that can help to reveal patterns of glucose fluctuations. Necessary adjustments will then be made to your diabetes management plan if needed.

Price Range :

• Estimated cost of around $800 – $1400 for the transmitter, receiver, charger and casing.
• Estimated cost of $35 per 3-day sensor or $60 per 7-day sensor.

Note(s) :

This type of Blood Glucose Meter is not intended to replace standard blood glucose monitoring but more for capturing continuous results (eg. every 5 mins for up to 72 hours) to analyze for any trend in glucose levels and work out a more effective treatment plan for diabetes patients.