INSULIN MEASUREMENT DEVICES

INSULIN MEASUREMENT DEVICES

INSULIN MEASUREMENT

DEVICES

(This article appeared in the VOICE OF THE DIABETIC, Vol.
11, No. 4, Fall 1996, published by the Diabetes Action Network of the National
Federation of the Blind. Updated
September 1997. We received many requests for this type of information, and,
as much has changed, decided to run it again.)
Most diabetics, blind or sighted, want and need to achieve control,
independent self-management, of their diabetes. But if a diabetic cannot rely
on vision to accurately measure insulin, then, to maintain independence, he
or she MUST have effective alternative techniques, specifically designed for
individuals with partial or complete vision loss. Many manufacturers have risen
to the occasion, and with the appropriate adaptive equipment, non-sighted self-management
is a reality. People's abilities (and ramifications) vary, and it is important
to remember that different devices best meet different needs.
Some diabetics, with fluctuating vision, will find that at certain
times of the day they can rely on their vision to accurately measure insulin.
At other times their visual acuity may diminish, leaving them guessing at their
dose of insulin or relying on sighted aid. A diabetic's eye condition can change
daily, making reliance on visual techniques unsafe.
The following is a catalog of alternative devices for insulin
measurement. Some are designed for those with partial sight. Others are intended
from the start for non-visual operation. A few are the simplest of home-made
aids, some designed by resourceful blind diabetics. NOTE:
Prices quoted do not include shipping charges.
Insulin Measurement Systems
The Count-A-Dose: This insulin measuring device is manufactured
by Jordan Medical Enterprises, 12555 Garden Grove Blvd., Suite 507, Garden Grove,
CA 92643; telephone:
1-800-541-1193. Cassette instructions are supplied. Its suggested
retail price is $49.95, but the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) sells
it for $40, the lowest price on record. Order through: Aids, Appliances, and
Materials Center (hours of operation 12:30 PM to 5:00 PM EST, weekdays), National
Federation of the Blind, 1800 Johnson St., Baltimore, MD 21230; telephone: (410)
659-9314.
Designed for the Becton Dickinson (B-D) .5cc LoDose (50-unit)
syringe, the Count-A-Dose holds two insulin vials and directs the syringe needle
into the vials' rubber stoppers. The user can easily mix two different insulins,
and the "T-bar" that holds the vials has clear and obvious tactile
marks to aid insulin differentiation. Dose size is adjusted with the thumb-wheel,
which clicks for each unit measured (clicks can be both heard and felt) up to
50 units. The device provides easy, reliable, and accurate non-sighted insulin
measurement.
(NOTE: The NFB Materials Center has a supply of the older, now
discontinued, 1cc/100-unit Count-A-Dose. Operation is similar, but this device
uses the B-D 100-unit syringe, and each click of the thumb-wheel draws two units.
No cassette instructions. Price is $40.)
The Syringe Support: This device is manufactured in Canada by
the Fondation Centre Louis-Hebert, 525 Boulevard Hamel Est, Aile J, Quebec City
(Quebec), Canada GIM 2S8; telephone: (418) 529-6991. Instructions (standard
print only) are bilingual. In the U.S., the Syringe Support may be purchased
(cost $19.95) through: Lighthouse Consumer Products, 36-02 Northern Blvd., Long
Island City, NY 11101-1614; telephone: 1-800-829-0500.
The Syringe Support uses only the B-D 1cc/100-unit disposable
syringe, and measures insulin in 1- or 2-unit increments, in doses of one to
100 units. To mix insulins with the device, it is necessary to remove vials
from the apparatus. To draw a measured dose, the Syringe Support depends on
a set screw with a raised flange, its only landmark, at 12 o'clock. One full
turn draws two units. One half-turn draws a single unit. Although the dial lacks
definite tactile or audio indicators, in most cases any error would be fractional.
Still, the Syringe Support performs best for those who must draw doses of greater
than 10 units.
The Load-Matic: This device is available for $49.95 from Palco
Labs, Inc., 8030 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz, CA 95062; telephone: 1-800-346-4488.
This device allows two different measurement increments: 10-unit
and/or single units of insulin. It uses only 1cc/100-unit B-D syringes. Depressing
the lever measures a 10-unit increment, and turning the dial one click measures
a single unit. To mix insulins with the Load-Matic, as with the Syringe Support,
it is necessary to remove and replace insulin vials from the device.
Although an intriguing design, the Load-Matic features an overly
complex operating drill, with many opportunities for user error. Ambiguous and
incomplete instructions take a high degree of familiarity for granted, and may
confuse the inexperienced. Its 10-unit lever, if incompletely depressed, is
capable of dispensing the unwary user an incorrect dose. The Load-Matic's cassette
instructions tell the blind user to draw only about 700 units out of an insulin
vial with the device, as "this assures that you will never draw air into
your syringe instead of insulin." The printed instructions lack this statement.
The instructions make no provision for removing air bubbles from the syringe,
which can easily be accomplished by drawing four or five units of insulin, reinjecting
them into the vial, three times, and drawing the full measured dose the fourth
time (insulin mixers need do this only with their Regular insulin, the first
they draw.)
Homemade Insulin Measurement Gauges
The simplest insulin gauges are devices which allow the plunger
on an insulin syringe to descend a set distance and no more. The distance corresponds
to a measured dose of insulin, and the gauge enables that dose to be reliably
duplicated without sight. To draw a different dose, you must use a different
gauge. You may need quite a collection! Gauges may be of a number of shapes
(flat, corner-molding, tube...), and can be constructed of many different materials
(wood, plastic, metal, old credit cards...), but most of them will be rigid,
flat, several inches square, and on one end of the gauge there will be an L-shaped
notch. This L-notch will fit on the plastic collar located between the flanges
and the plunger of the insulin syringe.
Further down the insulin gauge will be the small slot where
the plunger seats, once you have reached the correct dose for that particular
gauge. When making an insulin gauge, keep the slot very narrow, to insure that
when the plunger is seated in the slot there is no play (which would allow a
variation in the dose). The L-notch and the slot must both be on the same side
of the insulin gauge.
Although many people make their own insulin gauges, out of all
types of materials, commercial gauges are available. Meditec, Inc., 3322 S.
Oneida Way, Denver, CO 80224; telephone: (303) 758-6978, offers Insulgages,
flat plastic gauges analogous to the homemade types described above, but labeled
in Braille with raised numbers. Priced at $9.75 each, these are cut for either
B-D or Monoject syringes, and many sizes are available; one insulgage per dose.
Use of Insulgages in conjunction with the Holdease needle guide and syringe/vial
holder, also sold by Meditec (cost: $15.75), enables non-sighted insulin measurement.
The best insulin gauges, homemade or commercial, are those most
durable. Insulin gauges constructed from cardboard or staples, however inexpensive,
are NOT RECOMMENDED. They distort and break too easily.
A more complex homemade insulin measuring device was designed,
years ago, by VOICE editor Ed Bryant. His gauge was a carefully carved block
of wood that allowed precise syringe placement, non-sighted insertion of needle
into vial, and reliable tactile duplication of preset doses. To change the dose,
he had only to replace one wooden or plastic preset with another. It worked
well, but he feels that as most folks do not have access to the necessary precision
woodworking, blind diabetics would be better served by the Count-A-Dose, which
he now uses.
The use of non-standard or homemade insulin measuring devices
should only follow a thorough checkout of such devices.
It is important to understand that insulin gauges are "cut"
for a specific brand and size of syringe. Therefore, an insulin gauge that has
been cut for a Monoject, Terumo, or other type syringe cannot be used, will
not produce an accurate reading, on a B-D syringe and vice versa. An insulin
gauge cut for a 1cc B-D syringe cannot be successfully used on the 1/2cc (Lo-Dose)
or 30-unit B-D syringe, for the same reason.
Other Alternatives
Appliances and Holders
The Insulcap, a color-coded, tactile-cue equipped plastic fitting,
attaches to an insulin vial and guides insertion of the syringe, holding the
needle at the correct depth. The syringe won't shift and bend the needle, as
the Insulcap holds the bottle to the syringe, freeing both hands for the filling
operation. Offered by Diabetic Insulcap, Inc., P.O. Box 34347, Las Vegas, NV
89133-4347; telephone:
(702) 363-0426, the Insulcap is sold in sets of two: one blue,
without tactile cues; and one orange, with tactile cues. Suggested retail price
is $7.95. Individuals with low vision, arthritis, or other conditions causing
unsteadiness may benefit, though those without sight would be better served
by devices such as the Count-A-Dose.
The Ident-A-Cap, similar to the above, offers a selection of
color-coded and tactile cues. Each package includes two different vial caps,
which also attach to the neck of the vial, providing some nonvisual identification
of the contents. (There are six choices--when you order, they will send you
the right caps.) Until tactile-marked insulin vials become widely available,
this product may be of benefit. Cost: $1.99 for a package of two. Available
from Diabetic Promotions; telephone: 1-800-433-1477, or from Terron, Inc., P.O.
Box 958, Sanger, TX 76266; telephone: 1-800-862-2348.
The Inject-Aid is a syringe/vial holder incorporating a preset
that allows consistent non-sighted drawing of a set, pre-determined insulin
dose. Note that insulin adjustment requires sighted aid. The Inject-Aid costs
$24.95, and is available from George Wright Industries, 3741 Faulkner Drive,
Apt. 301, Lincoln, NE 68516; telephone: (402) 423-3253.
The Uni-Cal-Aid is similar to the Inject-Aid, but incorporates
two adjustable preset stoppers, allowing two different doses or insulin mixing.
It accepts all syringe types, but any adjustment of dose requires sighted aid.
Price $25 U.S. or $30 Canadian, available from: Uni-Cal-Aid, P.O. Box 1000,
Hope, B.C., Canada V0X ILO; telephone: (604) 869-5648.
Pen Injection Devices
The Novolin Pens: Novo-Nordisk Pharmaceuticals Inc., 100 Overlook
Center, Suite 200, Princeton, NJ 08540; telephone: 1-800-727-6500, produces
three pen-type devices. They offer the "Novolin Pen," which retails
at $40 (excluding insulin cartridge), and uses 150-unit "Novolin System"
insulin cartridges (R, N, or 70/30 mix) and "Penneedle" replacement
needles. This device delivers a measured dose of between two and 38 units, in
two-unit increments. Novo-Nordisk also offers "Novolin Prefilled"
disposable syringes. These devices are smaller than a pen injector, hold 150
units of R, N, or 70/30 mix insulin, and are packed five syringes to a package;
suggested retail price (package of five syringes): $19.10; comparable to the
cost of cartridge replacements for the Novolin Pen.
Novo Nordisk has a new pen injection device, the "Novo
Pen 1.5." Similar to the Novolin pens, it uses the 150-unit Novolin insulin
cartridges, and delivers insulin in one-unit increments.
According to the manufacturer of the Novo-Nordisk pens and the
prefilled Novolin syringes: "None of our devices are recommended for use
by blind or visually impaired persons without sighted aid."
The Autopen is a British-made insulin pen injector, designed
to use the Novolin system cartridges and disposable needles. In the U.S. it
is marketed by Owen Mumford, Inc., 849 Pickens Industrial Drive, Suite 12, Marietta,
GA 30062; telephone: 1-800-421-6936. It is available in two versions: a one-unit
increment (administers up to 16 units) and two-unit increment (up to 32 units)
pen, differentiated only by color. Each is priced at $33.50.
Becton Dickinson Corporation (in partnership with Eli Lilly
and Company) offers the B-D Pen. Similar to the Novo Nordisk and Mumford pens,
the system dispenses 150 units of R, N, Humalog, or 70/30 insulin, in one-unit
increments, from one to 30 units. Although B-D does not specify a "suggested
list price," the pen should cost about $40. B-D also offers a "pen
magnifier" (similar to the syringe magnifiers described below) that clips
to the pen to aid low-vision operation. This magnifier is available free of
charge, by calling Becton-Dickinson at: 1-800-237-4554. The B-D Pen should be
available at most pharmacies.
Syringe Magnifiers
The Insul-Eze 6000, manufactured by Palco Labs (listed above)
is a syringe-and-vial holder incorporating a full-length 2x lens, allowing the
insulin-drawing operation to be closely monitored. Insulin vials can be changed
for mixing without disturbing the syringe. Adaptable, the Insul-Eze works with
most types of syringes in the 30-, 50-, and 100-unit size. Cost: $11.
The Truhand, a device similar to the Insul-Eze, is offered by
Whittier Medical, Inc., 865 Turnpike Street, North Andover, MA 01845; telephone:
1-800-645-1115. It allows use of different syringe types and sizes, and firmly
holds the vial, while providing a 3x magnified view of the scale. Vials can
be changed for mixing without disturbing the syringe. Cost: $29.95.
The Magniguide, offered by Becton Dickinson Consumer Products,
One Becton Drive, Franklin Lakes, NJ 07417-1883; telephone: 1-800-237-4554,
is another syringe magnifier. It attaches to the insulin vial, and provides
2.5x magnification, to aid needle insertion, precise dose measurement, and location
of bubbles in the syringe. The Magniguide is available (cost: $3.95) from Independent
Living Aids, Inc., 27 East Mall, Plainview, NJ 11803-4404; telephone: 1-800-537-2118.
The Ezy-Dose Syringe Magnifier fits all 1/2cc and 1cc syringes,
and clips to the syringe barrel, magnifying the scale 2x to aid precise dose
measurement. Manufactured by Apothecary Products, Inc., 11531 Rupp Drive, Burnsville,
MN 55337-1295; telephone: 1-800-328-2742, the device does not affect needle
insertion, which must be done visually. Price: $4.95, available from LS&S
Group, Inc., P.O. Box 673, Northbrook, IL 60065; telephone: 1-800-468-4789.
The Cemco Syringe Magnifier, available in three sizes (to fit
syringes of 1cc, .5cc, and .33cc), is offered by Cemco, P.O. Box 31, Scandia,
MN 55073; telephone: (612) 433-3374. The magnifier clips to the syringe and
aids precise filling, but needle insertion into the vial must be done visually.
Price: $5 retail, or $42 per dozen (any combination of sizes).
The Diabetes Action Network of the National Federation of the
Blind is a support and information network for all diabetics. We have many members
willing to share their expertise in non-sighted techniques of diabetes self-management.
If you have any questions about diabetes and blindness, feel free to contact
us.