An interesting trend in healthcare is the increase in so-called mail health examinations. These involve a patient taking a small sample of one of their own bodily fluids, performing a simple test and sending the results by post for analysis. It is considerably cheaper than visiting a health professional, but tasks such as taking blood samples are difficult for untrained people to perform.So Japanese imaging company Canon has developed a self-contained blood sampler and test strip that does the job very simply.The device consists of an array of small needles about the size of the head of a toothbrush sealed behind a rubber membrane. The patient places his or her finger on the membrane and presses. The needles pierce both the membrane and the skin, drawing blood which flows towards a test strip where a chemical test takes place. When the patient removes his or her finger, the rubber membrane reseals, thereby keeping the sample clean while it is sent through the post for analysis.
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