Product design and development firm Cambridge Consultants has won Red Dot Design Award for its KiCoPen smart insulin pen concept. The company was up against nearly 5,000 entries from 63 countries in the design concept category of the awards.
The KiCoPen concept aims to reduce the burden of diabetes for the 371 million people affected worldwide, by making daily management of their disease an easier, more accurate task. The device captures the exact insulin dose delivered and wirelessly transmits the information to an associated smartphone app. It uses energy harvesting instead of a battery – the action of removing the injector cap powers the device.
Eliminating the battery in KiCoPen gives greater design freedom to create a better user experience. It also means the injector can be more reliable, manufacturing and assembly effort is reduced, and the device can have a lower environmental footprint. It proves to manufacturers that such an innovative, low-cost design can be applied to pre-filled pens.
The associated app seamlessly gathers data on blood glucose levels, activity and food consumption, and integrates it with insulin dosage. Local and cloud-based analytics turn the data into real-time actionable insights, helping the patient stay in control. KiCoPen allows the patient to be confident they are on track with their daily insulin regimen. This, in turn, improves the patient’s compliance and results in better glycaemic control, helping to reduce late-stage complications.
