A reusable Bluetooth smart insulin pen designed to pair with an iPhone app has recently approved by the FDA. InPen, Companion Medical’s reusable Bluetooth-enabled smart insulin pen is also planning a launch in 2017 with Android phones as well.
InPen tracks insulin doses and automatically shares those doses with the paired app via Bluetooth. The app features a bolus calculator and automatic insulin-on-board tracking. Pen and syringe users will experience many of the digital benefits of pumping, but at a lower cost and will not have to wear the device around the clock.
With a one year life span, InPen has been approved for use with Humalog and Novolog insulin cartridges. Depending on insulin use, the cartridges, that can easily be installed within one minute, will need to be replaced either weekly or monthly.
The consumer-friendly design resembles standard diabetic pens as all the insulin dose tracking happens ‘passively’ as long as the app on your phone is running in the background. The app provides statistics on the last dose, dose history and timing of doses, and even insulin temperature! As an added bonus data can also be shared with caregivers and health care providers.
Companion Medical plans on integrating established data management systems such as Glooko and Tidepool with the app in the future which the company hopes will link insulin adjustment software with the app that could help diabetics dose more effectively. In the same way that an artificial pancreas algorithms automatically adjust insulin doses, the new technology may automatically adjust dose calculator setting to improve pen users dosing.
Because insulin tracking for injectors has unavailable the FDA approval has come as a welcome development. Except for the occasional cartridge change, the InPen is as simple to use
This approval comes as a long-awaited development; insulin tracking for injectors has been a major gap for years. Apart from occasional cartridge changes, the InPen there is no added inconvenience compared to regular disposable pens.
