Abstract: A method for determining the concentration of an analyte in a biological sample comprising the steps of: (1) providing an optical measuring instrument that comprises at least one thermally controllable optical measuring element that comes into contact with the surface of the biological sample; (2) applying an inert, thermally conductive, optically transparent coupling agent to the at least one optical measuring element or to the surface of the biological sample or both so that the coupling agent will be disposed at the interface of the surface of the biological sample and the at least one optical measuring element; (3) measuring optical properties of the biological sample by means of the optical measuring instrument; and (4) correlating the optical properties of the biological sample with the concentration of the analyte in the biological sample. A coupling agent suitable for this invention must have several properties to enable it to help decrease measurement variation, especially drift.