How insulin diffuses from subcutaneous tissue

We are not hunks of dead meat obviously, but I thought this was a really cool visualization of how insulin travels through tissue to enter the bloodstream.
One interesting tidbit:
Heinemann1 estimated the coefficient of variability of insulin absorption to be in the range of 15 to 25% (intrapatient), whereas it was approximately 10% higher between patients (interpatient).

4 Likes

Interesting read Tia. No we are not hunks of dead meat, but this research showing how insulin moves in tissue structures is pretty cool.

Interesting that they used 8mm needles. I wonder how much the vertical penetration would have been if 4mm needles were used, or if the tissue resistance is different at differing levels that might cause different diffusion patterns.

I wonder if this can help explain a bit more about why some people have infusion sites that go bad after a few days.

The massaging technique seems to be frowned on, because it might make it absorb faster and that would be…a variable! :fearful:

This is the quote you often see:
“Massaging the injection site is not recommended as it increases the absorption rate, which may lead to unpredictable results.”

But I do that all the time to speed it up. Been doing that since before the dawn of time.
:grinning:

1 Like

From looking at this study, it seems that a larger amount of insulin in an injection would spread out more and be diffused quicker. If I am correct with that thought, it would seem that using U200 or U300 products would not be as effective as just using more of the U100. Is that true, or am I missing something? (I know that using U100 may not be possible for people if their quantities are too large, but just wondering if the bigger volume of fluid is just a benefit…).

I have a diluted pen so that I can take 0.1 unit increments. I usually only use it for 0.1 to 0.4 units, and go with the normal pen for 0.5 and more. But maybe using more volume is better?