FlexTouch® for the delivery of insulin: technical attributes and perception among patients and healthcare professionals

Abstract

Insulin injection pens have improved the ease and convenience of administering insulin for people with diabetes. This article reviews the data on a new prefilled insulin pen, FlexTouch®. FlexTouch has a novel injection mechanism with no push-button extension and a lower injection force than other prefilled pens, and other features including an end-of-dose click; a large dose display; color-coded pens to distinguish different insulin types; an ergonomic design; and compatibility with both NovoTwist® needles and most screw-thread needles. FlexTouch has been demonstrated to deliver insulin consistently and accurately at minimum, half-maximum and maximum doses. In usability studies recruiting patients and healthcare professionals, FlexTouch was easier to use and instilled more confidence than other prefilled pens, and was preferred to other prefilled pens. FlexTouch was also found to be easier to use and was preferred for learning and teaching to use.

Keywords::

• confidence
• diabetes
• FlexTouch®
• insulin
• insulin delivery
• insulin pen
• learning
• preference
• teaching
• usability

Financial & competing interests disclosure

T Bailey has received consulting honoraria from Roche, Sanofi and Novo Nordisk, and speaking honoraria from Amylin, Novo Nordisk, Becton, Dickinson & Co. and Sanofi. T Bailey has received research support from Animas, Bayer, Becton, Dickinson & Co., Biodel, Boehringer Ingelheim, Corcept, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Dexcom, Gilead, GlaxoSmithKline, Halozyme, Lifescan, Lilly, Medtronic, Merck, Novo Nordisk, Resmed, Roche, Sanofi and Xoma. C Campos has served on Advisory Boards for Novo Nordisk, Inc. and has recently become a National Speaker for them. The preparation of this article was funded by Novo Nordisk A/S (Bagsværd, Denmark). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

Editorial support for this article was provided by Emily Chu at ESP Bioscience (Crowthorne, UK), funded by Novo Nordisk A/S.