Blood glucose monitoring is a way of testing the concentration of
glucose in the blood (
glycemia). Particularly important in the care of
diabetes mellitus, a blood glucose test is performed by piercing the
skin (typically, on the finger) to draw blood, then applying the blood to a chemically active disposable 'test-strip'. Different manufacturers use different technology, but most systems measure an electrical characteristic, and use this to determine the glucose level in the blood. The test is usually referred to as capillary blood glucose.