Insulin Pen

An insulin pen is used to inject insulin for the treatment of diabetes. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas. It is composed of an insulin cartridge (integrated or bought separately) and a dial to measure the dose, and is used with disposable pen needles to deliver the dose. It was introduced and marketed as NovoPen by the Danish company Novo Nordisk in 1985.

Most brands of insulin are now available for use in pens, these include:

• NovoMix, NovoRapid and Levemir by Novo Nordisk
• Lantus and Apidra by Sanofi-Aventis
• Humulin and Humalog by Eli Lilly and Company

To use an insulin pen:

1. Screw or click on a new pen needle.
2. If necessary, prime the pen to remove any air from the needle
3. Turn the knob on the end of the pen (or "dial") to the number of units needed
4. Insert the needle into the skin
5. Press the button on the end of the pen to deliver the dose
6. Count to five or ten depending on dose injected
7. Remove
8. Remove used pen needle for disposal