Tissue penetration device

1. A system that controls movement of a lancet, comprising

a housing;

an electronic drive force generator; and

one or more processors coupled to the electronic drive force generator, wherein the one or more processors, cause force to be applied to the lancet to thereby cause the lancet to move in a first direction toward a target;

monitor position and speed of the lancet as the lancet moves in the first direction;

adjust the application of force to the lancet as the lancet moves in the first direction to achieve a desired speed of the lancet;

adjust the application of force to the lancet when the lancet contacts the target so that the lancet penetrates the target within a desired range of speed and dwell in a target site for a selected dwell time; wherein the program instructions are executed to further cause the processor to cause force to be applied to the lancet to thereby cause the lancet to move in a second direction away from the target.

2. A system as defined in claim 1 , wherein the program instructions are executed to further cause the processor to cause force to be applied to the lancet to thereby cause the lancet to move in a second direction away from the target.

3. A system that controls movement of a lancet, the system comprising:

a housing;

an electronic drive force generator applying a launching force to the lancet so that the lancet moves in first direction toward a skin target within a desired range of speed and dwell in a target site for a selected dwell time;

one or more processors coupled to the drive force generator, the one or more processors execute program instructions and receive a data set, wherein the program instructions cause the system to perform operations including:

control the application of the launching force to the lancet to thereby control the movement of the lancet as it moves in the first direction toward the skin target; and

applying a withdraw force to the lancet so that the lancet moves in a second direction away from the target; wherein applying a launching force to the lancet comprises energizing a coil to create a magnetic field that attracts a magnetic member disposed on the lancet to thereby cause the lancet to move in the first direction toward the skin target.

4. A system as defined in claim 3 , wherein applying a withdraw force to the lancet comprises energizing a coil to create a magnetic field that attracts a magnetic member disposed on the lancet to thereby cause the lancet to move in the second direction away from the target.

5. A system as defined in claim 3 , wherein the program instructions cause the system to perform operations further including:

applying a braking force to the lancet to decelerate the lancet as the lancet moves in the first direction toward the skin target such that a cutting tip of the lancet penetrates the skin target to a desired depth.

6. A system as defined in claim 3 , wherein the withdraw force is applied to the lancet prior to the lancet contacting the skin target.

7. A system as defined in claim 3 , wherein the program instructions cause the system to perform operations further including:

controlling the application of the launching force and the withdraw force so that the lancet moves toward the skin target at a maximum speed that is greater than a maximum speed at which the lancet moves away from the skin target.