New pain-free blood tester introduced

TEL AVIV, Israel, June 14 (UPI) -An Israeli company has devised a tool for checking the level of hemoglobin in the blood without puncturing the skin.

The NBM-100 developed by Orsense, of Rehovot near Tel Aviv, contains a ring-shaped sensor put on a finger. It measures hemoglobin by combining an optical measurement with pressure, similar to the instrument used to measure blood pressure.

The Magen David Adom first aid service (Israel's equivalent of the Red Cross and Red Crescent) said it collaborated with Orsense in developing the instrument and will use it this week during a campaign to increase blood donations.

Orsense's vice president for products, Gideon Fostick, told United Press International the results are as accurate as one usually gets in testing capillary blood by pricking a finger. It is less accurate than results obtained in laboratory tests when blood is drawn from a vein.