Method and/or system for determining blood glucose reference sample times

Abstract

Subject matter disclosed herein relates to monitoring and/or controlling blood glucose levels in patients. In particular, times for obtaining metered blood glucose samples of a patient may be altered based, at least in part, on a blood glucose level of said patient observed from a blood glucose sensor.

1 . A method comprising:
 obtaining a metered blood glucose sample measurement from a patient while monitoring a blood glucose level in said patient by processing signals from a blood glucose sensor; and   determining a time for obtaining a subsequent metered blood glucose sample measurement from, said patient based, at least in part, on an indicator indicative of a reliability of said sensor.   
     
     
         2 . The method of claim A 1 , and further comprising:
 providing an operator or attendant an option to extend the time for obtaining the subsequent metered blood glucose measurement based in response to a prediction that an observed blood glucose level of said patient is to reach a target range.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , and further comprising providing said option in response to an estimated lag between said blood glucose level and a measurement of said blood glucose level obtained at said sensor being less than a threshold. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , and further comprising providing said option at least in part in response to an observed variability of said blood-glucose level being below a threshold. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , and further comprising providing said option at least in part in response to an observed change in said patient's insulin sensitivity being below a threshold. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , and further comprising:
 providing an operator or attendant an option to extend the time for obtaining the subsequent metered blood glucose measurement in response to a duration that an observed blood glucose level of said patient has been in a target range.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , and further comprising:
 providing an operator or attendant an option to extend the time for obtaining the subsequent metered blood glucose measurement by first time extension in response to a duration that an observed blood glucose level of said patient has been in a target range; and   providing the operator or attendant an option to extend the time for obtaining another metered blood glucose measurement following the subsequent metered blood glucose measurement by a second time extension longer in duration than said first time extension in response to an extended duration that an observed blood glucose level of said patient has been in a target range.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining the time further comprises determining said time based, at least in part, on a category of said patient. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein said category is a surgical patient or a diabetic patient. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining the time further comprises determining said time based, at least in part, on an observed change in insulin sensitivity of said patient. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , and further comprising displaying said determined time to an attendant. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , and further comprising initiating an alarm responsive to said determined time elapsing. 
     
     
         13 . A method comprising:
 obtaining a metered blood glucose sample measurement from a patient;   observing a blood glucose level in said patient by processing signals from a blood glucose sensor; and   determining a time for obtaining a subsequent metered blood glucose sample measurement from said patient based, at least in part, on a nearness of said observed blood glucose level to a target range.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein said nearness of said observed blood glucose level to said target range is determined based, at least in part, on whether a prediction of said observed blood glucose level to be within the target range by a future time. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein said nearness of said observed blood glucose level to said target range is determined based, at least in part, on whether a prediction of said observed blood glucose level to be within the target range by a future time. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein said nearness of said observed blood glucose level to said target range is determined based, at least in part, on whether said observed blood glucose level is within said target range. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein said nearness of said observed blood glucose level to said target range is determined based, at least in part, on a difference between observed blood glucose level and an upper or lower bound of said target range. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 13 , and further comprising:
 providing an operator or attendant an option to extend the time for obtaining the subsequent metered blood glucose measurement based in response to a prediction that an observed blood glucose level of said patient is to reach the target range.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , and further comprising providing said option at least in part in response to an observed variability in said blood-glucose level being below a threshold. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 18 , and further comprising providing said option at least in part in response to an observed change in said patient's insulin sensitivity being below a threshold. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 13 , and further comprising:
 providing an operator or attendant an option to extend the time for obtaining the subsequent metered blood glucose measurement in response to a duration that an observed blood glucose level of said patient has been in the target range.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 13 , and further comprising:
 providing an operator or attendant an option to extend the time for obtaining the subsequent metered blood glucose measurement by first time extension in response to a duration that an observed blood glucose level of said patient has been in a target range; and   
       providing the operator or attendant an option to extend the time for obtaining another metered blood glucose measurement following the subsequent metered blood glucose measurement by a second time extension longer in duration than said first time extension in response to an extended duration that an observed blood glucose level of said patient has been in a target range. 
     
     
         23 . An apparatus comprising:
 an interface to receive a metered blood glucose sample measurement from a patient; and   a controller to:   monitor a blood glucose level in said patient by processing signals from a blood glucose sensor; and   determine a time for obtaining a subsequent metered blood glucose sample measurement from said patient based, at least in part, on an indicator indicative of a reliability of said sensor.   
     
     
         24 . The apparatus of  claim 23 , wherein said indicator indicative of the reliability of the sensor is computed based, at least in part, on an observed trend of signals generated by said blood glucose sensor. 
     
     
         25 . The apparatus of  claim 24 , wherein the observed trend comprises an observed change in sensitivity of said blood glucose sensor; 
     
     
         26 . The apparatus of  claim 24 , wherein the observed trend comprises at least one observed non-physiological anomaly. 
     
     
         27 . The apparatus of  claim 24 , wherein the observed trend comprises an observed sensor drift. 
     
     
         28 . An apparatus comprising:
 an interface to receive a metered blood glucose sample measurement from a patient; and   a controller to:
 observe a blood glucose level in said patient by processing signals from a blood glucose sensor; and 
 determine a time for obtaining a subsequent metered blood glucose sample measurement from said patient based, at least in part, on a nearness of said observed blood glucose level to a target range. 
   
     
     
         29 . A method comprising:
 obtaining a metered blood glucose sample measurement from a patient;   observing a blood glucose level in said patient by processing signals from a blood glucose sensor; and   determining a time for obtaining a subsequent metered blood glucose sample measurement from said patient based, at least in part, on an indicator indicative of a stability of the observed blood glucose level.   
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein said indicator is based, at least in part, on a length of time the observed blood glucose level is within a target range. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 30 , wherein said indicator is further based, at least in part, on a length of the target range and a size of the target range. 
     
     
         32 . An apparatus comprising:
 means for obtaining a metered blood glucose sample measurement from a patient while monitoring a blood glucose level in said patient by processing signals from a blood glucose sensor; and   means for determining a time for obtaining a subsequent metered blood glucose sample measurement from said patient based, at least in part, on an indicator indicative of a reliability of said sensor.   
     
     
         33 . An apparatus comprising:
 means for obtaining a metered blood glucose sample measurement from a patient;   means for observing a blood glucose level in said patient by processing signals from a blood glucose sensor; and   means for determining a time for obtaining a subsequent metered blood glucose sample measurement from said patient based, at least in part, on a nearness of said observed blood glucose level to a target range.   
     
     
         34 . An apparatus comprising:
 means for obtaining a metered blood glucose sample measurement from a patient;   means for observing a blood glucose level in said patient by processing signals from a blood glucose sensor; and   means for determining a time for obtaining a subsequent metered blood glucose sample measurement from said patient based, at least in part, on an indicator indicative of a stability of the observed blood glucose level.   
     
     
         35 . An article comprising:
 a storage medium comprising machine-readable instructions stored thereon which are executable by a special purpose computing apparatus to:   process a metered blood glucose sample measurement from a patient while monitoring a blood glucose level in said patient by processing signals from a blood glucose sensor; and   determine a time for obtaining a subsequent metered blood glucose sample measurement from said patient based, at least in part, on an indicator indicative of a reliability of said sensor.   
     
     
         36 . An article comprising:
 a storage medium comprising machine-readable instructions stored thereon which are executable by a special purpose computing apparatus to:   process a metered blood glucose sample measurement from a patient;   observe a blood glucose level in said patient by processing signals from a blood glucose sensor; and   determine a time for obtaining a subsequent metered blood glucose sample measurement from said patient based, at least in part, on a nearness of said observed blood glucose level to a target range.   
     
     
         37 . An article comprising:
 a storage medium comprising machine-readable instructions stored thereon which are executable by a special purpose computing apparatus to:   process a metered blood glucose sample measurement from a patient;   observe a blood glucose level in said patient by processing signals from a blood glucose sensor; and   determine a time for obtaining a subsequent metered blood glucose sample measurement from said patient based, at least in part, on an indicator indicative of a stability of the observed blood glucose level.