Smart pens are new-generation insulin delivery devices that have a reusable injector pen with a built-in smartphone app to help people with diabetes manage insulin delivery with more accurate doses and timing. These devices also estimate the insulin quality, including storage conditions and shelf-life. They can be bought as an add-on to your current insulin pen or in reusable form with prefilled cartridges.
A smart insulin pen can:
Calculate each dose based on current blood sugar level, carbohydrate amounts, meal size, active insulin, and settings prescribed by your doctor.
Deliver accurate half-unit doses.
Help prevent skipped or missed doses.
Do the math for you when figuring out how to dose for a meal or correct a high blood sugar reading.
Keep track of the time and amount of each dose, and remind yourself when it’s time for the next one.
Notify you when your insulin has expired or exceeded its temperature range, so you can replace the cartridge.
Send diabetes data to your health care team whenever needed.
Work with your smartphone or watch and popular diabetes data tracking platforms.
Some smart pens can offer different dose calculator therapy modes, including those on fixed doses with a sliding scale, or meal doses based on the size and timing of the meal.
A smart pen gives you many of the features of an insulin pump, but without the higher cost and inconvenience or discomfort of having a device attached to your body.
What companies are working to capture injection data: Medical InPen, Common Sensing Gocap, Bigfoot (Timesulin), Lilly, and Novo Nordisk.
And don’t forget about FixiC Adhesive Patches For Freestyle Libre, which provide the best way to solve a problem with damaged sensors.