Product development firm Cambridge Consultants has designed an injection pen ‘KiCoPen’ for diabetics to make daily management of the disease an easier and accurate task.

The company is part of the of EU -based Altran, a global leader in innovation and high-tech engineering consulting .

The KiCoPen device is designed to capture the exact dose delivered  and send the information to an associated smart phone app. There is no  battery  but the  process of  removing the injector cap powers the device. The company said that there is  currently no injector pen on the market that combines these capabilities.

Diabetes affects over  371 million people worldwide and is expected to affect 552 million by 2030.

Current market offerings allow patients to know when the last insulin dose was given by freezing the time the cap was taken off the pen. This, however, leaves room for error if the cap falls off accidentally, providing false confirmation that the dose was taken. By being able to confirm the actual injection event and the exact dose of insulin delivered  and deducing the time it was delivered  via the smart phone, KiCoPen enables patients to track  daily insulin regimen. This in turn improves patient compliance and results in better glycaemic control helping to reduce late-stage complications.

Additionally, the KiCoPen concept uses energy harvesting – from the motion of the cap removal and replacement – to power the electronics, which are based on a single chip.

“Our new injection pen design allows patients to more easily self-manage their treatment, while ensuring they’re getting the exact amount of insulin they need. It also proves to manufacturers that such an innovative, low-cost design can also be applied to pre-filled pens,” said Vaishali Kamat, head, digital health,  Cambridge Consultants.

With a team of more than 400 staff, including engineers, scientists, mathematicians and designers, at its  offices in Cambridge (UK), Boston (USA) and Singapore, Cambridge Consultants offers solutions across a diverse range of industries including medical technology and  digital health

Its parent company Altran  has around  21,000 employees in over  20 countries and  revenues of €1,633m in 2013.