Blood Glucose Tracking Apparatus and Methods

Abstract

A measurement module for glucose testing includes a glucose testing measurement module housing, a test strip receptacle formed in the housing, and a connector portion formed in the housing and shaped to permit mechanical removable attachment of the housing to a hand-held computer. Electronics determine the amount of glucose present in a sample of body fluid, when the test strip is positioned in the receptacle and the body fluid is placed on a test strip, and communicate the glucose amount to the hand-held computer via the connector portion.

1 - 28 . (canceled) 
     
     
         29 . A hand-held analyte measurement system, comprising:
 a first module; and   a second module coupleable with the first module and in communication with the first module,   wherein the analyte measurement system is configured to acquire one or more signals indicative of an analyte concentration in a sample, and   wherein the analyte measurement system comprises one or more application programs for analyzing the one or more signals indicative of the analyte concentration in the sample.   
     
     
         30 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 29 , wherein the analyte measurement system comprises a test strip receptacle configured to receive the sample. 
     
     
         31 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 29 , wherein the analyte is glucose. 
     
     
         32 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 29 , wherein coupling of the first module with the second module provides an integrated hand held unit. 
     
     
         33 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 32 , wherein the first module and the second module are electrically and mechanically coupled. 
     
     
         34 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 32 , wherein the first module is physically engaged with the second module. 
     
     
         35 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 32 , wherein the first module comprises a connector portion configured to be received by a receptacle defined within the second module. 
     
     
         36 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 29 , wherein the first module and the second module are connected by a flexible cable which allows for the communication between the first module and the second module. 
     
     
         37 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 29 , wherein the analyte measurement system is configured to communicate firmware revision data between the first and second modules. 
     
     
         38 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 29 , wherein the hand-held analyte measurement system comprises a display positioned on the first module or the second module. 
     
     
         39 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 38 , wherein the display is a liquid crystal display (LCD). 
     
     
         40 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 38 , wherein the display comprises a touchscreen. 
     
     
         41 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 38 , wherein the display is configured to communicate information to a user of the hand-held analyte measurement system which is indicative of a physical state of the user of the hand-held analyte measurement system. 
     
     
         42 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 41 , wherein the analyte is glucose, and wherein the physical state is hyperglycemia. 
     
     
         43 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 41 , wherein the analyte is glucose, and wherein the physical state is hypoglycemia. 
     
     
         44 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 41 , wherein the analyte is glucose, and wherein the physical state is impending hyperglycemia. 
     
     
         45 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 41 , wherein the analyte is glucose, and wherein the physical state is impending hypoglycemia. 
     
     
         46 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 29 , wherein the first or second module is selected from the group consisting of a device comprising a PDA, a device comprising a mobile phone, and a device comprising a combination PDA/mobile phone. 
     
     
         47 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 29 , wherein the hand-held analyte measurement system is configured for USB connectivity. 
     
     
         48 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 29 , wherein the analyte measurement system comprises a communication unit. 
     
     
         49 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 48 , wherein the analyte measurement system is configured for communication with a personal computer and/or a network. 
     
     
         50 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 49 , wherein the network is a computer network. 
     
     
         51 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 49 , wherein the communication with the personal computer and/or network is wireless communication. 
     
     
         52 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 51 , wherein the wireless communication is by RF and/or IR. 
     
     
         53 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 49 , wherein the hand-held analyte measurement system is configured to receive data and/or application programs from the computer and/or network. 
     
     
         54 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 49 , wherein the hand-held analyte measurement system is configured to transmit data and/or application programs to the computer and/or network. 
     
     
         55 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 49 , wherein the hand-held analyte measurement system is configured for connection with the internet. 
     
     
         56 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 49 , wherein the hand-held analyte measurement system is configured for communication with a personal computer, and wherein the hand-held analyte measurement system is configured to synchronize data in the hand-held analyte measurement system with data in the personal computer to produce synchronized data. 
     
     
         57 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 56 , wherein the synchronized data comprises time- and/or date-tagged event data. 
     
     
         58 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 29 , further comprising diabetes management software configured to be accessed by a health care professional. 
     
     
         59 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 29 , wherein power is supplied from the second module to the first module. 
     
     
         60 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 59 , further comprising an electrical isolation barrier for substantially electrically isolating the first module from the second module. 
     
     
         61 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 29 , wherein the first module comprises an internal power source. 
     
     
         62 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 29 , further comprising a database comprising data associated with management of a health condition, wherein the database is accessible by a user of the hand-held analyte measurement system. 
     
     
         63 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 62 , wherein the data associated with the management of the health condition is event data. 
     
     
         64 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 62 , wherein at least a portion of the data associated with the management of the health condition is manually entered by the user of the analyte measurement system. 
     
     
         65 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 62 , wherein the health condition is diabetes. 
     
     
         66 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 62 , further comprising application software configured to merge the data associated with the management of the health condition with additional data specific for the user of the analyte measurement system. 
     
     
         67 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 62 , wherein the data associated with the management of the health condition comprises data derived from another analyte measurement system and/or analyte measurement device. 
     
     
         68 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 29 , further comprising a software application configured for data logging. 
     
     
         69 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 29 , wherein the hand-held analyte measurement system is configured to issue one or more communications to a user of the hand-held analyte measurement system. 
     
     
         70 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 69 , wherein the one or more communications indicate that a planned activity is due to begin. 
     
     
         71 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 70 , wherein the planned activity is user entry of data associated with management of a health condition. 
     
     
         72 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 71 , wherein the data associated with the management of the health condition comprises exercise data. 
     
     
         73 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 71 , wherein the data associated with the management of the health condition comprises dietary data. 
     
     
         74 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 73 , wherein the dietary data comprises meal-related data. 
     
     
         75 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 74 , wherein the meal-related data comprises meal time data. 
     
     
         76 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 74 , wherein the meal-related data comprises carbohydrate value. 
     
     
         77 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 29 , further comprising application software configured to store and retrieve data associated with management of a health condition such that the data associated with the management of the health condition is accessible by a user of the hand-held analyte measurement system. 
     
     
         78 . The hand-held health monitoring device of  claim 77 , wherein the application software is configured to receive and store user-entered data associated the management of the health condition. 
     
     
         79 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 78 , wherein the application software is configured to display one or more pre-defined drop-down lists from which a user can select data associated with the management of the health condition. 
     
     
         80 . The hand-held health analyte measurement system of  claim 77 , wherein the data associated with the management of the health condition comprises carbohydrate data. 
     
     
         81 . The hand-held health analyte measurement system of  claim 77 , wherein the data associated with the management of the health condition comprises exercise data. 
     
     
         82 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 77 , wherein the analyte measurement system comprises a food database accessible by a user of the hand-held analyte measurement system, wherein the food database comprises carbohydrate values for food items. 
     
     
         83 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 82 , wherein the food database is customizable by the user of the analyte measurement system. 
     
     
         84 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 38 , wherein the display is configured to display a recommended treatment to a user of the hand-held monitoring device. 
     
     
         85 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 29 , further comprising application software configured to determine a dosage of medication based at least in part on the indicated analyte concentration. 
     
     
         86 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 85 , wherein the medication is insulin. 
     
     
         87 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 29 , further comprising application software configured to determine trending of analyte concentration based at least in part on the indicated analyte concentration. 
     
     
         88 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 87 , wherein the trending provides for a rate and/or acceleration of analyte concentration increase or decrease. 
     
     
         89 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 87 , wherein the hand-held analyte measurement system comprises a display positioned on the first module or the second module, and wherein the application software is configured to communicate with the display such that visual indicators of analyte concentration trending are displayed to a user of the analyte measurement system. 
     
     
         90 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 40 , wherein the hand-held analyte measurement system comprises application software configured to communicate with the display such that a visual representation of data associated with the management of the health condition over time is provided to a user of the hand-held analyte measurement system. 
     
     
         91 . The hand-held analyte measurement system of  claim 40 , wherein the hand-held analyte measurement system further comprises application software configured to communicate with the display such that a visual representation of analyte concentration over time is provided to a user of the hand-held analyte measurement system. 
     
     
         92 . A hand-held glucose measurement system, comprising:
 a first module comprising a test strip receptacle configured to receive a sample;   a second module electrically and mechanically coupled to the first module and in communication with the first module,   a wireless communication unit configured to communicate with a personal computer and/or network,   a touchscreen display positioned on the first module or the second module; and   USB connectivity positioned on the first module or the second module;   wherein the hand-held glucose measurement system is configured to acquire one or more signals indicative of a glucose concentration in a sample, and   wherein the hand-held glucose measurement system comprises one or more application programs for analyzing the one or more signals indicative of the glucose concentration in the sample and display the glucose concentration.   
     
     
         93 . The hand-held glucose measurement system of  claim 92 , wherein the hand-held glucose measurement system is configured to communicate firmware revision data between the first and second modules. 
     
     
         94 . The hand-held glucose measurement system of  claim 92 , wherein the display is configured to display a communication activatable when the glucose concentration of the sample indicates hyperglycemia, hypoglycemia, impending hyperglycemia or impending hypoglycemia. 
     
     
         95 . The hand-held glucose measurement system of  claim 92 , wherein the first or second module is selected from the group consisting of a device comprising a PDA, a device comprising a mobile phone, and a device comprising a combination PDA/mobile phone. 
     
     
         96 . The hand-held glucose measurement system of  claim 92 , wherein the wireless communication is by RF and/or IR. 
     
     
         97 . The hand-held glucose measurement system of  claim 92 , wherein the hand-held glucose measurement system is configured to receive data and/or application programs from the computer and/or network. 
     
     
         98 . The hand-held glucose measurement system of  claim 92 , wherein the hand-held glucose measurement system is configured to transmit data and/or application programs to the computer and/or computer network. 
     
     
         99 . The hand-held glucose measurement system of  claim 92 , wherein the hand-held glucose measurement system is configured for connection with the internet. 
     
     
         100 . The hand-held glucose measurement system of  claim 92 , wherein the hand-held glucose measurement system is configured for communication with a personal computer, and wherein the hand-held glucose measurement system is configured to synchronize data in the hand-held glucose measurement system with data in the personal computer to produce synchronized data.