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Insulin Pens - Techical article expanded

Doug Kerr

Well-known member
I have Type 2 diabetes, and I use on a routine basis, by subcutaneous injection, two types of insulin, one long-acting and one quick-acting. In general, I have administered the injections of these with two different types of prefilled insulin pens. These are basically like hypodermic syringes, preloaded with 3 mL of insulin solution (equivalent to 300 international units - IU - of insulin), enough for multiple doses, and equipped with mechanisms so that the user can preset the desired dose and then deliver it though the (replaceable) needle.

As you might expect, not too long after I began the use of these devices, I felt the need to understand how they worked. I dissected one of each design and reverse-engineered the mechanisms, which were dramatically different between the two designs, but both ingenious, complicated, and intricate.

I then took extensive photographs of the internal components, and prepared for each a series of schematic cross-section drawings of the mechanisms. I used all of these to illustrate extensive discussions of the mechanisms and their working in a technical article, published in 2011.

Recently, Novo Nordisk, the manufacturer of one of the two types, introduced a new version, with a rather different method of operation from the user's perspective and a wholly new mechanism. So of course I had to dissect and reverse-engineer this version, take photos of some on the innards, make a schematic cross section drawing of the mechanism, and add to the article a thorough description of this new version and the operation of its mechanism.

The updated article, still entitled "Insulin Pens and Their Mechanisms", is available here:


Best regards,

Doug
 
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Tom dinning

Registrant*
Thorough and precise as usual, Doug.
I could never look another insulin syringe in the pointy bit again without thinking of what lay beyond.
My grandson thinks like you. He's 13. He gets a devise, sees how it works, pulls it apart, figures out what's going on, improves the design and puts it back together. I have the most powerful mower in the district, my push bike has more gears than I have ever seen and his old Lego now moves stuff around my house like a bloody robot.
If he grows up with your skills and inquisitiveness, I'll be a happy (but probably dead) grand father.
He stores his modifications in my study. I think he's already expecting me to drop dead any moment. He's not fully understood at home. His father thinks he's just collecting junk.
Autism is a very misunderstood ability.
 

Doug Kerr

Well-known member
I heard a sound and thought at first it was someone saying something to me.

But it turns out just to be a funny noise coming from the heating element in our cold/hot water dispenser.

Best regards,

Doug
 

Tom dinning

Registrant*
I heard a sound and thought at first it was someone saying something to me.

But it turns out just to be a funny noise coming from the heating element in our cold/hot water dispenser.

Best regards,

Doug

I wasn't talking about you being autistic, ya nong. My grandson is. Anyway, it's a good thing, isn't it?
Get you plumbing fixed.

Here's a simple problem.
The energy produced by a conductor is inversely proportional to its resistance. So, why don't we have very low value resistors in our jugs?
 

Doug Kerr

Well-known member
Hi, Tommie,

I wasn't talking about you being autistic, ya nong.

I never suggested you were. Do you ever read what I write?

My grandson is. Anyway, it's a good thing, isn't it?

I'm not qualified to opine on that. I think many people would disagree.

Get you plumbing fixed.

Nah, it's too late. Tomorrow.

Here's a simple problem.
The energy produced by a conductor is inversely proportional to its resistance.

Well, there is no energy produced by a conductor, unless of course it is moving in a magnetic field, in which case the energy is proportional to the EMF induced, the current drawn, and the length of time involved.

Now the energy dissipated in a conductor is proportional to the resistance of the conductor, the square of the current through the conductor, and the length of time involved.

So, why don't we have very low value resistors in our jugs?

I give up.

Best regards,

Doug
 

Tom dinning

Registrant*
Hi, Tommie,



I never suggested you were. Do you ever read what I write?



I'm not qualified to opine on that. I think many people would disagree.



Nah, it's too late. Tomorrow.



Well, there is no energy produced by a conductor, unless of course it is moving in a magnetic field, in which case the energy is proportional to the EMF induced, the current drawn, and the length of time involved.

Now the energy dissipated in a conductor is proportional to the resistance of the conductor, the square of the current through the conductor, and the length of time involved.



I give up.

Best regards,

Doug

Forget it. I need a nap.
 

Doug Kerr

Well-known member
Hi, Andy,

Doug, the correct colloquial extension of Tom would be Tommo (in Oz that is).
Thanks for that info.

I was just paralleling what he had done with my (already colloquial) name (to Dougie).

When I came to Texas in 1973 it was as president of a small technical college (corporately owned). Before I actually "reported for duty", an official of the owing corporation briefed me on the personnel of the school. He said that one of the deans was "Jim Smith" (the last name here is fictitious.)

I said, "And I know enough about Texas names to know that 'Jim' is his actual given name, not 'James'.

"It's worse than that", my colleague said. "His given name is 'Jimmy', but they call him 'Jim' for short.

Thanks again for the insight.

Best regards,

Doug
 

fahim mohammed

Well-known member
I have not read your technical paper yet..shall do in small gulps.

But I have read somewhere that research is progressing on a inhaler type of insulin.

Take care.
 
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