Austin, TX-based Babson Diagnostics said it has received positive feedback for its hand-warmer, which is used as part of a finger-stick blood sample collection device in retail pharmacies.
Babson has been collaborating with both the department of biomedical engineering at University of Texas (UT) at Austin and Becton Dickinson (BD) to develop the "BetterWay blood testing ecosystem" and further the company's plans for its hand-warming device (a dry-heat heating pad) to use broadly in blood sample collection and blood testing.
"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," Babson said in a news release.
In December, BD's system, a Class 2 medical device, received 510(k) clearance for low-volume blood collection for a lipid panel, selected chemistry tests, and hemoglobin and hematocrit (H&H) testing. The Babson Hand Warmer is also listed as a Class 2 medical device with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Combining the warmer with the BD device into BetterWay is described as a "hybrid approach to blood testing that democratizes small-volume collection and centralizes analysis," according to Babson.
In March, Babson announced it would be working with the H-E-B supermarket chain and two independent pharmacies in the Austin metro area, Peoples Rx and Lake Hills Pharmacy, to offer BetterWay, and would also begin offering the heated blood collection experience at pharmacy locations in the Austin and San Antonio metro areas beginning in July.
Babson and BD have worked together since 2019 on a capillary blood collection and testing system for retail settings. Babson pointed out that the system involves a microsample preparation device and pre-coded microsample tubes that eliminate the need for pharmacy teams to label and prepare samples. Blood samples are sent to Babson's clinical laboratory in Austin that the company said is purpose-built to test microsamples.
