Hello :) please take a few minutes of your time to read this.

[uni student]

I am a 20 year old university student, i do not have diabetes, but i am doing a research project on it. Part of the project was to video an interview with a chosen person, i picked my boyfriends little brother as he has been newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. We also have to gather secondary research as we have to find a problem people find and solve it. One thing that came to my attention after talking to my boyfriends brother was that the humalog pen he uses during the day is quite big has it holds roughly a months worth of insulin.

I was thinking of making the pens smaller, carrying a weeks worth of insulin, so that it is easier to carry on the go.

My main question is would this be a good idea? and if any one had any other suggestions for things they find difficult transporting their medication. it would be really appreciated.

Many thanks
T-J

 

[Northerner]

This has been approved 🙂

T-J, I think the main problem with your idea is that people have differing insulin requirements - what may last a week for one person may last a month or a day for another, so it would be very difficult to standardise on a particular size. Also, the manufacturers issue standard cartridges or pre-filled pens, and it's doubtful it would be economic for them to supply different sizes. Pharmacies would also probably have trouble stocking a variety of sizes, even if they could be made available.

 

[Pumper_Sue]

The simple solution is a vial of insulin and disposible syringe Saves money and space. Problem solved.

 

[uni student]

thank you very much for your replies, they are really helpful with the research of my project.
If anyone has any other thoughts or ideas please keep posting, its a huge help 🙂

 

[novorapidboi26]

Just to confirm Northerners thoughts.......

As you boyfriends brother is only recently diagnosed his insulin needs will be low......

I have been diabetic for 14 years and am quite well built, and my disposable pen (3ml) lasts only 2 - 3 days.....🙂

It will be a tough one to find a problem and solve it I think, you could definitely discuss possible solutions.....

What about injection sites? A lot of people tend to stick to the one spot for certain times of the day and/or insulin types [basal/bolus]........coming up with a solution to help people move around the body effectively could be an idea.....

I tend to bruise a lot too, however I dont know how I would stop this......

Good luck.....🙂

 

[Northerner]

How about this for a suggestion: a test strip dispenser. Blood testing strips often come in little tubs and it can be very awkward getting a strip out, especially if the tub is full, or if you have big fingers - or if, as is often the case with diabetics, your fingers are not as sensitive as they once were. It would be good to have something that you could put the strips in and then press a button to dispense a strip when needed. It would need to be airtight when not dispensing. 🙂

 

[novorapidboi26]

That's a great idea actually........

I use the freestyle strips and its hard, at least at the start when the tub is gull, to get a single strip out.....

Could be tricky to implement across the board though, but challenges are good...😉

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

How about this for a suggestion: a test strip dispenser. Blood testing strips often come in little tubs and it can be very awkward getting a strip out, especially if the tub is full, or if you have big fingers - or if, as is often the case with diabetics, your fingers are not as sensitive as they once were. It would be good to have something that you could put the strips in and then press a button to dispense a strip when needed. It would need to be airtight when not dispensing. 🙂

I think there's an 'all in one' meter that does that sort of thing. A bit like the Accu-chek mobile(?) which has strips in a cartridge.

Can't quite remember the name - Mendo-something maybe? It was a neat looking affair with a flip-over cover that dealt with priming lancing device and dispensing strip.

EDIT: found it - Mendor Discreet http://www.mendor.com/en/Discreet.aspx

 

[Northerner]

I think there's an 'all in one' meter that does that sort of thing. A bit like the Accu-chek mobile(?) which has strips in a cartridge.

Can't quite remember the name - Mendo-something maybe? It was a neat looking affair with a flip-over cover that dealt with priming lancing device and dispensing strip.

EDIT: found it - Mendor Discreet http://www.mendor.com/en/Discreet.aspx

Yes, looks good. I was thinking of a separate device that isn't tied to a particular meter, just something you could load your strips into for ease of access 🙂

 

[Copepod]

Good luck with your project T-J.

When I was diagnosed about 17 years ago, there were 1.5ml cartridges and reusable pens, until a few years ago (less than 12, but can't remember how many), these were replaced by 3ml cartridges and larger pens.

The reason for the change was simple economics - the vasy majority of insulin users are adults with type 2 diabetes, who usually use far more insulin daily / weekly etc than adults or children with type 1 diabetes. Very young children need adult help to administer their injections, then go through a phase of helping, before becoming totally responsible for pushing the button, usually with some degree of adult surveillance, at least initially. By the time a child is about 12 years, hand size is within the average range of adult hands.

In general, disposable pens, usually plastic, are even bulkier than reusuable pens, which can be made of thinner, if heavier metal.

I'd also mention that the carrying cases supplied with pens and blood glucose meters are often relatively bulky, so I prefer to carry my insulin pen, plus spare cartridge of each long acting and short acting insulin in a simple, cheap and convenient pencil case. Sorry - no scope for design project there.

For carrying sharps (used needles and lancets) for a few days, an old 35mm film pot is better than anything I have seen for sale, to be used until I return to access to a proper sharps bin.

 

[trophywench]

Err, what about the Novorapid half-unit pen, that's always been smaller and comes in jazzy patterns for kids.

Have they stopped doing them now they've brought the Echo out?

 

[Northerner]

Err, what about the Novorapid half-unit pen, that's always been smaller and comes in jazzy patterns for kids.

Have they stopped doing them now they've brought the Echo out?

I think they might have done - the Echo was marketed as a children's pen, because they don't think adults need half unit pens 😉

 

[Tina63]

Err, what about the Novorapid half-unit pen, that's always been smaller and comes in jazzy patterns for kids.

My lad has a Novorapid half unit pen, kids version, and it's exactly the same size as his other 'normal' Novorapid pen.

 

[trophywench]

Oh right Tina, I've never actually seen on in the flesh but it's hard to see how they'd make it smaller with only one size of cartridge available isn't it?

As there are (comparatively I mean) so few people on smaller doses I expect Big Pharma won't want to invest in that?

The 'stretch' with little hands must be quite tricky at times.

 

[lauraw1983]

A pen that records your doses and when given would be the best thing ever. I know the echo does the previous dose but one with a longer memory would be brilliant!

 

[Northerner]

A pen that records your doses and when given would be the best thing ever. I know the echo does the previous dose but one with a longer memory would be brilliant!

There's already the timesulin thingy Laura: http://timesulin.com/ 🙂 Or do you mean one with a 500 dose memory, like a meter?

 

[robert@fm]

As some long-term forum members may recall, I used to be on disposable insulin pens, but had to beg to be switched to a refillable pen because the disposables were taking up far too much space in my tiny fridge.

This is an image of one of my disposable pens, a cartridge, and my refillable pen:

And my fridge truly is tiny, you can probably imagine how much of its space 10 or 15 disposable pens take up:

 

[bennyg70]

I want a meter case which holds my metre and also my wallet functions, such as for holding money and my bank cards etc etc..! Which will hold one of the smaller meters, pen, and strips. Will fit in my pocket, and saves me having to take both that and a wallet out... It really bugs me, especially down the pub.!

 

[Curdster]

US. What is the purpose of your enquiry. Are you a product designer?

My own view is that over a decade ago I had what I suppose was a cool aluminium/silver metal bodied Novo Pen, which when I was switched to other insulin's was not compatible, and now I have much larger ugly plastic pens for use with re-fill cartridges. But I have no choice.
You will face all the discussed issues here where there appears to be little standardisation between manufacturers in the re-fill cartridge market, and differing dosage needs of each individual.
If you want to make a product we can all use, then a CGT (Continuous Glucose Testing) watch or tattoo which works without a cannular and is as accurate as the current day meter can be. You would save the NHS millions on test strips, you may improve glucose control, and therefore the knock health and financial benefits and improve my finger ends. Quite happy to have some sort of Blu Tooth reader implanted if i means I can check by BG levels quickly, accuratley with out having to whip our the old meter and strips. It's annoying when your wearing a wet suit or ski kit!!!