MEDICAL DEVICES
Good Design Awards Highlight Connected Devices KEREN SOOKNE, DIRECTOR OF EDITORIAL CONTENT TOP THREE TAKEAWAYS 1. Multiple devices won for convenient diabetes care, including insulin pens.
2. Ultrasound and ECG devices offer remote diagnostics convenient for patients.
E
ach year, The Chicago Athenaeum presents its GOOD DESIGN® Awards Program, showcasing cutting-edge industrial, product, and graphic designs produced around the
world. The 2021 awards honored 53 total entrants in the medical category, with products running the gamut from consumer-focused medical devices to diagnostics tools and even mobile COVID-19 units. Here we profile a subset of the winners advancing design in connected devices.
Diabetes care Sanofi Aventis Deutschland GmbH’s AllStar® Connect (1) is a reusable insulin pen injector that connects by Bluetooth to a smartphone, designed by DCA Design International Ltd. With frequent adjustments to insulin dosage commonly needed, the pen is intended to help patients manage diabetes by automatically and seamlessly keeping track of insulin usage. AllStar Connect records the details of each insulin dose delivered and dose records are transferred to the patient’s smartphone, where they can be logged and reviewed by the patient and shared with clinicians. Dose details are permanently stored in its memory, so even if the pen is out of range from the smartphone, data will automatically download the next time the pen is used with the phone. As was reported in the entry, electronic features have been minia-
3. An allergy amulet worn on the neck tests foods in real-time for presence of allergens.
turized so that the size and form factor are just like a regular pen, and “it needs no recharging or battery replacement and is designed to provide a troublefree life of approximately three years for an average patient.” The Sanofi/DCA duo also won an award for the TouStar® reusable insulin pen (2). Intended for delivery of Toujeo®, the pen retains the size and format of the existing AllStar pen, offering familiarity to patients along with new features such as a new dedicated cartridge system developed to simplify cartridge exchange and help to prevent potentially life-threatening insulin mix-ups from occur-
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