Innovative Needle Technology Improves Diabetics’ Self-Injection Adherence

A new pen needle has been developed that penetrates the skin more smoothly and provides diabetes patients with less painful, more comfortable insulin injections.

To reduce the pain and discomfort of injections, BD Diabetes Care of BD Medical, a segment of the global medical technology company Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD; Franklin Lakes, NJ, USA), has developed the “BD Ultra-Fine Nano Pen Needle with PentaPoint Comfort,” now initially launched in the US. BD’s latest advancement in injection comfort, PentaPoint is a patented 5-bevel needle tip design that creates a flatter, thinner surface. In a clinical home-use study, patients who inject insulin found BD’s 5-bevel pen needles to be significantly less painful, easier to insert, and preferred overall when compared with current 3-bevel pen needles. Bench tests showed that the modified PentaPoint needle tip reduces the force required to penetrate the skin by 23% compared to 3-bevel pen needles.


Advances in needle manufacturing technology along with shorter and thinner needles have been associated with progressively improving patient self-rating of injection comfort. PentaPoint Comfort is an enhancement incorporated into the BD Nano, reflecting that a modified needle tip can further advance patient comfort. At 4 mm by 32 gauge, the new BD Ultra-Fine Nano is also the shortest, thinnest pen needle available, is clinically demonstrated to enhance comfort, and provides a less intimidating injection experience. Combined with a one-handed injection technique (recommended by the American Association of Diabetes Educators) and its ability to facilitate flexible site rotation, BD Ultra-Fine Nano was designed to improve adherence to diabetes therapy regimens. The needle design also improves insulin injection efficacy - the BD Nano 4 mm Pen Needle is proven to be as effective as longer needles for patients of various body types and provides equivalent glucose control by effectively delivering the insulin dose more specifically to the subcutaneous fatty tissue, reducing the risk of injecting into muscle and thereby also reducing the risk of unanticipated hypoglycemia.

“BD Diabetes Care has been a leader in diabetes injection devices for over 85 years [...]. We are excited to provide another first-to-market innovation designed to dramatically improve the injection experience for the millions of people living with diabetes,” commented Linda Tharby, president, BD Medical – Diabetes Care; “we are confident that our new, patented PentaPoint Comfort technology [...] will help enable patients to adopt and adhere more easily to the therapy regimens recommended to improve their outcomes.”

Related Links:
Becton, Dickinson and Company
BD Ultra-Fine Nano Pen Needle with PentaPoint Comfort