The first “smart” insulin pen has finally hit the market. This is a big moment for diabetes care, as the digital toolbox expands. (I wrote a post in 2013 about this topic, asking for someone to make a smart insulin pen)
From the perspective of a person with diabetes, this has the potential to solve many daily challenges. First, did I remember to take my insulin dose? Or, did I recently take a dose and forget that I did, leaving me at risk for hypoglycemia if I inject now? Another key question for a PWD is, how much “insulin on board” do I have (that is, how much of my recently injected insulin is still affecting me)? Of course, another key element is the ability to track and capture insulin doses and not have to write them down in a logbook for your doctor!
From the provider perspective, we gain a huge amount of data to help us help our patients make decisions and learn from their experiences. For years, if we wanted to review a glucose and insulin time series, we either needed a patient to write down numbers in a logbook or to put someone on an insulin pump. More recently, manually entering data into an app became an option. The “smart” insulin pen finally means that glucose and insulin data can relatively easily (and passively) be captured into one place. This can help guide care in real-time as well as for retrospective review and analysis.
For the many people with type 1 diabetes who do not want an insulin pump, and for the people with type 2 diabetes for whom a pump is not covered or necessary, these smart insulin pens are likely to offer real benefits.
The next ask?
An automated way to capture food intake!
Other sources: DiabetesMine DData 2017 has some slideshows on smart insulin pens