How can we help those older diabetes patient who is still in good health and

who wants to feel independent?

Solution

I designed a memory cap for an insulinepen. It is a mechanical device that

‘counts’ your injection moments on a day. It works as follows: every time that
the patient removes the cap from his pen and puts it back on, he sees an
Memory Cap extra bullet in the window (figure 1). In this way the patient can check if he
already took his injection or not.
“to help you remember your daily routine“
The mechanism is very simple, it is based on the same principle as a ball-
by Leonoor Beukers
point. Everytime that the cap is clicked off and onto the pen, a cilindrical
part inside the cap turns. (Figure 2)
Problem statement
Of course not every patient injects himself an equal amount of times a day,
These days much attention is paid to diabetes type 2. Many elderly with but as the product is so simple and production cost can be very low, I sug-
diabetes type 1 feel undervalued by this, they aren’t helped with advices like gest that insulin pen suppliers should offer 2 to 4 different caps, varying from
‘Move more, Eat less’. They are used to inject insulin 4 to 6 times a day which 3 to 5 injection moments.
means very an intensive care. Because of the fast progression of the diabetic
care last decennia, patients can become very old nowadays. These older
diabetes type 1 patients are a new challenge for healthcare providers. But
elderly nurses oftenly do not have enough time and expertise to deal with
the diabetes in the same way as the patient was used to do it himself.

The loss of independence appeared to be very difficult for those elderly. In

most cases it is not the fact that they cannot utilize their insulin pen anymore.
Injecting is such a routine, an action they did for so many years, that this goes
well for a surprisingly long time. (As long as they can use the products they
were used to, learning new products is almost impossible!) Oftenly it is their
cognitive decline that makes them dependent, which is reasonable as a
double dosis insulin can have dangerous consequences.
Figure 1

Memory Cap by Leonoor Beukers

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Figure 2

Memory Cap by Leonoor Beukers

Benefits of the Memory Cap

- contributes to the independence of elderly with diabetes

- it is intuitive in use
- the patient can use the cap and still use the pen he or she is familiar with
- low costs for production and investment

Memory Cap by Leonoor Beukers