Using glucose meters in hospital environments: Some challenges and resolutions for point-of-care testing

摘要

IMPORTANCE OF GLUCOSE METERS IN MANAGING ILLNESS: The invention of the first portable glucose meter in 1970 by Anton Clemens in the Miles Laboratories, in Elkhart, Indiana, changed the way diabetes would be managed forever. Clinical studies have shown that using glucose meters to monitor patient blood glucose on a daily basis and then adjusting diet or therapy based on these results has demonstrated a reduced incidence of microvascular and macrovascular complications of diabetes such as retinopathy, neuropathy, and nephropathy. As a result, teaching patients to self-monitor their blood glucose using glucose meters and then to correctly manage their diabetes with diet and/or drugs has become an important focus in diabetes management as part of their total healthcare plan.