Babson Diagnostics, a science-first healthcare technology company, today announced the newest innovation in its BetterWay™ blood testing ecosystem has completed validation testing. The company created a unique hand-warming technology specifically designed to support the collection of high-quality blood samples from a fingertip.
Warming the hand is a common way to aid blood collection from a fingertip. When Babson determined that off-the-shelf solutions would not meet the customer's needs, the company pivoted to developing its own technology. The company worked with biomedical engineering experts who study the impact of heat on the human body in the design of therapeutic devices.
“The Babson Hand Warmer supports blood collection from the finger, providing simultaneous warming of the hand with collection to create a repeatable and more pleasant blood testing experience for the customer,” said Roy Barr, Babson’s vice president of research and development. “The device is another example of how BetterWay is putting the needs of the customer first.”
BetterWay reimagines blood testing by uniting Babson’s proprietary sample preparation and laboratory technologies with the BD MiniDraw™ Capillary Collection System, a new collection device that is the product of a strategic partnership between Babson and BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company)[1].
Set for commercial launch this year, BetterWay makes blood testing easier and more accessible by using only a pea-sized amount of blood collected from a finger to produce medically accurate results clinicians and patients can trust. BetterWay enables any trained healthcare worker to collect high-quality samples, allowing convenient locations such as retail pharmacies to offer blood testing.
Babson collaborated with the University of Texas at Austin Department of Biomedical Engineering to develop designs for a hand-warming device. Babson was looking for an ergonomic product design and something easy to use in a retail setting. The device had to provide simultaneous warming of the hand with collection and could not impede access to fingers.
A team of UT students working with Professor Kenneth Diller created a working prototype, which Babson took to a professional engineering team to develop a production system. Babson performed a validation study with staff at pharmacy partners to meet the regulatory requirements of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The device received overwhelmingly positive feedback from pharmacy staff trained as collection techs and the customers getting a BetterWay blood test.
The Babson Hand Warmer is listed as a Class II medical device with the FDA, and Babson Diagnostics is licensed as a medical device manufacturer and distributor in Texas.
[1] BD, the BD Logo, and MiniDraw are trademarks of Becton, Dickinson and Company.