the present invention provides a method of determining a diabetic patient &# 39 ; s compliance with their insulin dosing regime comprising quantifying the amount of hba 1c and hb contained in a blood specimen taken from the patient , without further treatment of the specimen , using a spectrophotometer , and comparing the concentration of hba 1c and hb , where an elevated ratio of hba 1c reflects a lack of patient compliance . according to a preferred embodiment of the method of this invention , the method of quantification comprises the steps of : ( i ) generating a calibration algorithm for each of the hba 1c and hb ; ( ii ) measuring with the spectrophotometer , absorbance of radiation by each of the hba 1c and hb in the specimen ; and ( iii ) incorporating the absorbances measured in step ( ii ) in the algorithms respectively and calculating the concentration of the hba 1c and hb in the specimen . more preferably , according to the method of the present invention , quantification includes calculation of the first derivatives of at least two portions of a spectrum generated from a scan for each of hba 1c and hb which are used to calculate each of the hba 1c and hb concentrations . according to another aspect of the present invention , the methods can be used with reflectance instead of absorbance . according to a preferred aspect of the present invention , the method is carried out with a blood specimen being placed into a sample tab comprising a well in which the specimen resides and a cover which closes over the well . furthermore , the method provides for the situation where the sample tab well allows for overflow of excess specimen from the well whenever the cover is closed over the well . turning now to the sample housing and sample tab , as may be seen in fig1 the radiation from the spectrophotometer is delivered to the sample in he sample tab through a source or incident optical fibre ( 60 ) while the sample rests in a sample tab holder ( 70 ) within a sample housing ( 80 ). the radiation passing through the sample tab and specimen is received by a receiving optical fiber ( 90 ), and processed further to determine concentrations of hb and hba 1c . a spectrophotometer of the present invention is one with appropriate filters , a grating and a linear photodiode array ( pda ) detector ; a means for optically connecting the radiation source with the detector along a sample path through the housing and along a reference path which by - passes the sample ; a means for selectively passing a beam from the sample path and from the reference path to the detector ; a means for selecting an appropriate integration time required for adequate detector response ; and a means for correlating a detector response , from the sample path relative to a detector response from the reference path , to a quantity of hba 1c or hb , as appropriate , in said sample . the apparatus further comprises a quartz - tungsten - halogen bulb capable of emitting a near infrared light beam having wavelengths from 600 nm to 1100 nm and a single optical fiber bundle which randomly samples light from the quartz - tungsten - halogen bulb . the single fiber bundle bifurcates into a sample path beam for travel along a sample path and a reference path beam for travel along a reference path . the bifurcated optical fiber consists of multiple fibers which focus random sampling of light from the lamp , into single fibers of 0 . 4 millimeter diameter for both the sample and reference beams . this apparatus further comprises two shutters , installed in the lamp assembly , for selectively blocking the sample path light beam which travels along the sample path through a sample enclosed in a housing and the reference path light beam which travels along the reference path . the two light paths are collected into two fibers which converge into a single fiber which is focused onto the detector ; the bifurcated collection optical fiber consists of multiple fibers . this apparatus further comprises a grating for dispersing the combined beam into component wavelengths which are passed onto the detector . the detector of this apparatus is a silicon pda comprised of a plurality of pixels wherein each of the pixels is set to measure one of a plurality of predetermined light frequencies . based on the measurement of the frequencies , the detector generates a plurality of signals wherein each of the signals is responsive to an amount of radiation received by each of the pixels . this apparatus further comprises an analog - to - digital converter to generate digital information from the plurality of signals and a microprocessor , which is connected to the converter , to correlate the digital information to a quantity of a known substance in the sample . alternatively , an ingaas ( indium - gallium - arsenide ) pda which covers the wavelength range of 800 nm to 1700 nm or 1200 nm to 2600 nm can be used , or any commercially available scanning near infrared spectrophotometers which covers the range of 700 nm to 2500 nm . in another aspect of the invention , a light - tight sample housing is not required . the only shutters in the apparatus are the two located in the lamp assembly , and are used for sequentially directing the light through the sample or reference pathway . since there is no shutter between the sample housing and the sensor , any room light leakage into the sample housing will affect the sample light and sample dark scans equally when performed at the same integration tie , and also the reference light and reference dark scans when performed at the same integration time used for the reference measurements . therefore , room light impinging on the detector can be effectively subtracted without affecting the performance of the apparatus , provided that the ambient light does not change during the few seconds measurement time . the room light leakage along sides of the tab , can be managed by measuring the dark current , i . e ., detector response when detector is not exposed to the instrument light , for both the sample and reference measurements . the pda integrates the optical radiation over a specified time and converts the optical signal to a time multiplexed analog electronic signal called a scan where absorbance is calculated as : absorbance i = log {( reference light i − reference dark i )/( sample light i − sample dark i )}+ log ( its / itr ) reference light i = reference pixel i readings , with reference path open and sample path closed by a shutter ; reference dark i = reference pixel i readings , with reference and sample paths closed by shutters ; sample light i = sample pixel i readings , with sample path open and reference path closed by a shutter ; sample dark i = sample pixel i readings , with sample and reference paths closed by shutters ; the electronic signal is proportional to the time that the detector integrates the optical signal . the electronic signal is amplified by analog electronic amplifiers and converted to a digital signal by an analog - to - digital converter or adc . the digital information from the converter is interpreted for data analysis by a microprocessor which is in turn connected via an rs232 connector to a computer . the results of the data analysis can be displayed on the computer , or on a printer connected . the integration time for the sample beam is low for a sample with low hematocrit , since there is less scattered light and therefore more light is transmitted to the detector . when the light is sufficiently scattered by , for example a high hematocrit , the spectrophotometer will automatically switch to a higher integration time . the higher integration time chosen will be within a pre - selected range , such that the detector &# 39 ; s response is optimal . this feature will allow all samples , from the lowest to the highest hematocrit , to be efficiently tested without exceeding the linear response range of the detector . according to another aspect of the present invention , there is provided a sample tab for use in monitoring a diabetic patient &# 39 ; s compliance with their insulin dosing regime by spectrophotometry of a blood specimen from the patient , the tab comprising : the upper portion of the well being defined by a closed wall extending above the top surface of the plate , at least one notch in the wall to allow drainage of excess blood , and a cover plate , the cover plate and base plate being translucent where the sample resides in the well to allow radiation to be transmitted through the cover plate , blood specimen and the base plate . according to a further embodiment , the wall of the well is surrounded by a second closed wall to retain excess blood drained from the well , preferably the cover is attached to the base plate . referring now to fig2 in a preferred embodiment of a sample tab of the present invention ( 5 ), the sample cavity or “ well ” ( 10 ) is 2 millimeter deep and 4 millimeters diameter , i . e ., of sufficient size to allow a drop of blood fill the sample cavity , with some excess . small overflow grooves ( 20 ) allow excess blood to flow out of the well . an overflow ring ( 30 ) retains any overflow blood from running off the tab . the cover ( 40 ) is in a preferred embodiment attached to the tab by a hinge ( 50 ). the entire tab may be conveniently manufactured from any suitable plastic material . in the prototype , black plastic washers wit 2 - centimeter internal diameter and 2 - millimeter thickness were glued to microscope slides , and microscope coverslips were used to cover the samples . also , a microscope was used as the sample housing after the following modification : the input fiber was sent through the condenser position , and the output fiber was sent through the objective lens ; both the condenser and objective were replaced with machined fixtures which housed the ends of the fibres . a microscope stage was used for holding and positioning the slide . for the prototype , 350 μl of whole blood was used ; for the preferred embodiment , 25 μl would be sufficient . however , the volume of the sample cavity should not be a restriction for the present invention . the tabs and coverslips can be made of glass as used in microscopy , but plastic is preferred . the plastic can be transparent or translucent . a preferred plastic is polypropylene , which is translucent . by virtue of the orientation of the sample housing ( 80 ), the projection of light is in the vertical direction . an advantage of this is that the red blood cells will remain m the light path , even as they fall downwards under the effect of gravity . it will be obvious to those skilled in the art , that a flow - through cuvette lie those in co - oximeters can also be used . as with any quantitative method , calibration of the spectrophotometer is required . however the methods for nir calibration is much more complex than most which can be calibrated with a minimum of a single standard material of known concentration . in respect of nir calibration , samples must contain all spectral variability expected during the analysis of an unknown sample ; the sample must contain an even distribution of the analyte of interest , and the concentrations of total hb should not correlate significantly with hba 1c . the development of the algorithm uses pls ( partial least squares ) analysis of the full spectrum . a sample size of several hundred samples is necessary to characterize all the sample variability , particularly due to the various hb species . the three parameters measured are grams / liter total hemoglobin ( hb ), grams / liter hba 1c , and % hba 1c . because % hba 1c is a ratio of hba 1c to total hb multiplied by 100 , % hba 1c is not affected by artifactual dilution caused by institial fluids squeezed out with the blood , when the finger is “ milked ” for the blood . similarly , the imprecision in the manufacture of the tabs , in particular with respect to path length , will not affect the % hba 1c . while the present invention has been described with reference to what are presently considered to be preferred examples , it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed examples . to the contrary , the invention is intended to cover various modifications and equivalents included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims
described is a method and apparatus for determining a diabetic patient &# 39 ; s compliance with their insulin dosing regime . the method and apparatus involves taking a blood sample from a patient by a routine finger prick and placing it in a special sample tab which is placed in a spectrophotometer sample housing . the spectrophotometer measures hb and hba 1c concentrations and allows for calculating a ratio of hba 1c to hb which is indicative of the degree of patient compliance .