The Accu-Chek Advantage provides an uncomplicated way for diabetics and others to monitor their blood glucose levels at home. Always make sure to run a control test before first using your meter to test your blood as well as anytime you suspect the meter may not be working properly. Control tests are done using the exact same procedure as a blood test, but instead of piercing a finger and producing blood to test, you use a control solution that might have been included with your meter and test strips or which can be purchased separately.
Step 1
Wash your hands and dry them with a clean towel. Prep your lancing device by making sure that it has a fresh lancet in place. Either pull the cap off, remove the old one and insert a new one, then replace the cap, or press the slider to advance to a new lancet if your device is drum loaded. You also might need to press the plunger on the end of the lancing device to "arm" it for use.
Step 2
Open the test strip vial and remove one strip, being careful not to touch the test surface, then tightly close the vial.
Step 3
Hold the meter in the palm of your hand and slide the end of the test strip with silver-colored bars into the slot below the meter readout. The test surface on the strip, which looks like a yellow window, should be facing up. The meter will turn on automatically when the test strip is inserted.
Step 4
Check the 3-digit code that appears on the meter screen against the 3-digit code on the vial of test strips; they must match in order to achieve accurate readings.
Step 5
Place the meter on a flat, stable surface and wait for the image of a flashing blood drop to appear on the meter. Once that happens, hold the lancing device against your testing location--the side of your fingertip, for example--and press the release button.
Step 6
Squeeze or "milk" your fingertip gently to produce a drop of blood. Touch the drop to the edge of the yellow window on the test strip if you're using Accu-Chek Comfort Curve test strips, or to the top of the yellow window if you're using Accu-Chek Advantage test strips. The yellow window should fill completely with your blood. An hourglass will flash on the screen briefly, then your test result will appear.
Tips and Warnings
- Every time you open a new vial of test strips, you must remove the old code key--which looks like a tiny memory card--from the back of your Accu-Chek Advantage meter and slide the new code key, which comes from inside the vial of test strips, into place. Do this with the meter turned off, then turn the meter on without a test strip and check to make sure the code displayed matches the code on the vial. If the code your meter displays with the test strip inserted doesn't match the code on the vial, you may have forgotten to do this; check inside the vial for a forgotten code key. Your other option is to try another test strip or to contact Accu-Chek customer care.
Things You'll Need
- Accu-Chek Advantage meter
- Lancing device
- Test strips
