Combining silicon microtechnology and bioscience to develop a new technology for painless blood analyte monitoring, Kumetrix is an R&D company structured particularly to work with corporate partners to commercialize its technology. The firm's technology is being initially applied to a one-step product for rapid, neat, and painless diabetic blood glucose self-testing. At the heart of device is a silicon chip designed to draw blood and perform chemical measurements. The chip consists of a micro-needle about the size of a human hair integrated with a micro-reservoir or cuvette. Engineered explicitly to mimic the painless bite of the mosquito, the micro-needle painlessly penetrates the skin and draws a tiny blood sample. Typically, the mosquito bite causes no pain the irritation, redness, and swelling are caused by enzymes injected afterwards by the mosquito to thin the blood. In a process identical to the manufacturing of computer chips, except that the resultant silicon micro-device performs a mechanical function Kumetrix manufactures its needle.. Chips that do mechanical work are called microelectromechanical systems or MEMS.
