More than 400,000 children are diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes worldwide and these children may need to inject themselves multiple times a day. The device they use for daily injections becomes an integral part of their everyday life. Novo Nordisk has recognised that children have different needs and thus developed a pen specifically for them.
‘We spoke to children and their parents to establish what features of current pens could be improved,’ said Ramin Elahi, chief designer at Novo Nordisk.
‘We identified the need to develop a pen which combined small dosing capability, a simple memory function and a design made to fit children's smaller hands. NovoPen Echo is the result and is currently the only pen which combines all of these functionalities in one device.’
NovoPen Echo allows patients to inject insulin doses down to 0.5 units, which is beneficial in children with low insulin requirements who require very small doses. In addition, a simple memory function has been added which records the dose and time since the previous injection.
NovoPen Echo is a durable insulin pen, which comes in two colours – red and blue. Removable skins are also available so that users may personalise their pens. The pen has been launched in Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Canada and Israel.
Novo Nordisk also won a Good Design Award in 2005 for the NovoPen 4, which is for adults.
The annual Good Design Awards, founded in 1950, are presented by The Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design in cooperation with The European Centre for Architecture, Art, Design and Urban Studies.
