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Review
. 2022 Mar 8:13:827484.
doi: 10.3389/fendo.2022.827484. eCollection 2022.

The Review of Insulin Pens-Past, Present, and Look to the Future

Małgorzata Masierek  1 , Katarzyna Nabrdalik  1 , Oliwia Janota  2 , Hanna Kwiendacz  1 , Maksymilian Macherski  2 , Janusz Gumprecht  1
Affiliations
Review

The Review of Insulin Pens-Past, Present, and Look to the Future

Małgorzata Masierek et al. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). .

Abstract

Currently, there are about 150-200 million diabetic patients treated with insulin globally. The year 2021 is special because the 100th anniversary of the insulin discovery is being celebrated. It is a good occasion to sum up the insulin pen technology invention and improvement which are nowadays the leading mode of an insulin delivery. Even though so many years have passed, insulin is still administered subcutaneously, that is why devices to deliver it are of great importance. Insulin pens have evolved only through the last decades (the reusable, durable pens, and the disposable, prefilled pens) and modern smart insulin pens have been developed in the last few years, and both types of the devices compared to traditional syringes and vials are more convenient, discrete in use, have better dosing accuracy, and improve adherence. In this review, we will focus on the history of insulin pens and their improvement over the previous decades.

Keywords: diabetes mellitus; insulin; pen; prefilled pen; smart pen.

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Conflict of interest statement

MMas works for Bioton S.A. KN and JG received lecture honoraria from Bioton S.A., Eli Lilly, Sanofi Aventis, Novo Nordisk and Polfa Tarchomin. HK received lecture honoraria from Sanofi Aventis. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The reviewer MH declared a shared affiliation with the authors to the handling editor at the time of review.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Timeline of insulin pen history.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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