Pelikan Sun was the ‘Cadillac’ of diabetes lancing systems — with everything that implies: excellent performance, a high-end chassis, yet expensive and impractical for most people. But for some (especially parents of type 1 kids) it was a life-altering product: a way to prick your finger a dozen times a day without feeling a thing!
When the company went out of business a few months ago, I started referring people to the Renew Lancing system instead. It wasn’t electronic, but used a disk/cartridge system and tiny needles that were as realistically ‘painless’ as anything I’d seen for diabetes yet.
Then the Renew was pulled off the market, too. For those of us who could really benefit from this technology: {insert expletive}!!
A lot of folks have shot me emails, asking where these great lancing systems have gone, and why?
You will not be surprised that it all comes down to money. It seems there just isn’t enough of a market for less-painful ways to poke yourself — i.e. not a priority for insurers to reimburse, or for enough patients to put up a fight, and/or pay for out-of-pocket.
One reader forwarded me the following email response they received:
Dear Mr. and Ms. XX:
I wish I had some disks to send, but our distributors shipped all their inventory by the end of last year. All of us at Pelikan are sorry that we discontinued the Pelikan Sun so abruptly.
We discontinued the Pelikan Sun but did not go out of business. As a small, private corporation we didn’t have the resources to support the Pelikan Sun while also developing a new product. Part of the decision to discontinue the Pelikan Sun included restructuring the company, so hopefully that will enable us to produce a replacement product with the same low-pain lancing technology but which is more reliable and more useful.
I can’t predict the timeline for a new product, mostly because it depends on the success of our restructuring. Medical devices such as this usually have an 18- to 24-month cycle time, so we don’t have an announcement pending. Please keep an eye on our web page for announcements about the company and new products.
Sincerely,
T.S.
Pelikan Technologies Service Team
Apparently the business plan behind Pelikan was to get the lancing technology integrated into a best-selling meter family, or some kind of all-in-one product. But this never got off the ground. The stand-alone product was too large and clunky for portability, and too expensive, especially for just 15 tests per cartridge. Ugh.
So of course I started nosing around to find out what’s left in pain-free lancing devices. According to my sources, not much.
Several people mentioned the new OneTouch Delica Lancing System from LifeScan, which I announced here. According to industry observer Kelly Close, who’s been playing with one, “it’s not as painless as the Pelikan Sun was but MUCH easier to carry around, and I do think it’s a big improvement over the last OneTouch model. I can’t tell why … but it feels a little less painful. I don’t think it is revolutionary, but for sure evolutionary, and I’ll take it!”
Other than that, it seems it comes down to shopping for the tiniest needles you can use and still get enough blood. Kelly likes the 33 gauge BD lancets, which are available for purchase at Target.
Remember that standard lancets are 30 gauge, which is bigger; the higher the gauge number, the smaller the needle. If you’re sensitive enough to draw 
sufficient blood with a really teeny needle, try the new TiniBoy 36 gauge lancets. These are also 1/3 the length and diameter of regular needles, making them the smallest lancets available, via mail order at www.tiniboy.com.
I wish I had more for you, but that’s all on the Best of Lancets for now, Friends.
I tried the renew a while ago and while it was about as pain free as the multiclix I use primarily, it was bulky, didn’t fit in my meter case, it was expensive to buy and run, it was very annoying to change the discs, wasn’t covered by insurance but most of all it didn’t allow you to reuse a lancet. It crossed my mind that manufacturers are using overly complicated, expensive and non-formulary solutions to try and solve a problem that has already been solved over and over by the multiclix, lancing devices that have a wide range of depth settings, very thin lancets and using the correct area of the finger to test on.
Thanks for posting this information. I might have to look into the tinyboy lancets. The lancing devices that came with my One Touch I have set to depth of 1 and they still hurt. I would hate to know what a setting of 9 would do.
This morning before breakfast I felt a little weak, like my blood sugar might be low (I can only imagine what that feels like).
I used my daughters lancing device and meter to check my own blood sugar, something I have not done since we were learning to use it at her diagnosis.
I had the lancing device set at two and it hurt like a son-of-a…
I thought: How does my little girl do this multiple times a day. That really hurts!
Made me realize again what troopers these young kids are. Rarely complaining.
(Oh, and I was 93.)
I still swear by my much-loved Accu-chek Softclix.
When I lived in Germany, my doctor prescribed the Terumo FineTouch, which also impressed me. Not sure whether it is available in the US, though.
I used to always hold the device a little ways away from my finger and the needle would still hit it enough to cause it to bleed without as much pain. But, some of the lancets will always be a little shorter or a little longer, despite what they say is the EXACT measurement, so it’s not an exact science, but still much better than putting it straight on the skin’s surface and having the needle go all the way to the bone.
I was very upset when we heared about the pelikan. We have been using it for two years and my sons fingers are soft and spot free. For me it is very strange that no one is interested about a pain-free device that also makes alot less damage to your fingers. Anyway we tried the tiniBoys they are good much less pain than the other lancets. Still I believe the damage is caused of the springing device as it wobbles. I wish somebody worked on something new!!
My 5 year old son has been using the 33 gauge OneTouch UltraSoft lancets since he was diagnosed nearly 2 years ago. He hasn’t complained about them hurting at all, unless of course mommy here doesn’t change fingers and his finger starts looking like a little pin-cushion lol. I think one of the biggest complaints I have about testing his sugar with his fingers would have to be, even though I do try not to use the same finger too many times throughout the day, his fingers still tend to look like little pin cushions! It just looks SO painful, although, I know that if it did hurt him, he would tell me. Does anyone else have this problem? What kind of tips/tricks can you give me to help me prevent this, or help his fingers heal a little faster so that it doesn’t happen as often?
Like a few others above, I tried the Renew and I found that the Accu-chek devices (Softclix and Multiclix) are less painful. I have been using the same Softclix device for over 6 years and I love it!
If parents haven’t tried a Softclix on the lowest setting, I highly recommend it! The One Touch devices are the most painful in my opinion!.
I’ve never found a totally pain-free lancet of any kind. I have found that it hurts less if I do it in the heel of my hand than my finger, so I go that route. I’ve read where some people do it in their arm and they say it doesn’t hurt. For me, not only did it hurt, but it looked like I would have track marks on my arm like a junkie if I continued it.
Pain-free lancets is a lot like talking about pain-free epilators (never used one, but wrote a lot of articles on them); no such thing.
I have never used so-called pain-free lancets, but I simply reuse lancets for a very long time. This is not what any doctor will recommend, but seriously, I go for months and months without changing my lancet, and I prick my fingertips sometimes up to 15 times a day. I don’t use alcohol, I lick my finger after I get a drop of blood, and while my fingertips have dots all over them (I tend to use the same fingers on one hand, too), they have toughened up enough that I rarely feel a thing when I test my blood sugar. Also, I have *never* gotten any kind of infection, after nearly 20 years of blood sugar testing.
I tried the Renew; I didn’t like it. Took several tries, and a very high setting (i.e., lots of pain) to draw a tiny drop of blood. The alternate-site setting did not work at all. For me, a real waste of money.
The multiclix is decent if you only test on your fingertips. (There’s an alternate-site cap but it’s not as effective as a traditional lancing device.) As far as the pain issue, for me, it’s a crapshoot regardless of the device — but against popular wisdom, I find less pain and more blood going for the ball of the fingertip than the side.
When i didn’t have insurance, i didn’t change my lancet very often. I felt like i could save money, and did. My Dr told me that, after use, the lancet dulls with every prick causing more pain. I also was told that there is a big possibility that a reused lancet will leave microscopic metal filings in the body and effect the BG reading.
It wasn’t until i managed to barely afford med insurance that i switched to the Multiclix and change lancet with every prick. I was happily surprised at how much less pain i felt. It is a shame that the insurance company and the ability to afford the disease got in my way. I can’t imagine what it would be like to have this disease with no med insurance to defer the cost of supplies. How much do you spend?
Hi, everyone,
I am Dr. Stanley kim, the inventor of the TiniBoy lancet.
I undrstand the pain you have gone through because I was diagnosed being diabetic myself. I tried all available lancets and lancing devices before I invented the TniBoy. But, I was upset and anxious whenever I saw the needle when I placed it into the pricker before poking my finger. Yes, pain was somewhat less when I used the multiclix until I dissected its drum and saw the size if needle;28 gauge and more than 3 mm length! I realized that pain sensation is not only from the real physical but also from the pschological factor. Once you see the real needle of the multiclix, you probably will feel more pain. The real motivation to invent a new painless needle was that I found the 28-30 gauge needle lancets are being used for the newborn babies. I witnessed the infant crouching and crying in pain when her foot was punctured! A nurse said she saw a baby with heel bone infection probably by the long and thick lancet needle injured the bone.
Why can’t we have a simple, cheap and reliable lancets for all diabetic patients from babies to the elderly?
With my invented tiniboy lancets, I conducted a clinical study on 37 adult diabetic patients who were using ordinary lancets. I allowed them to see the TiniBoy lancet needle and their own lancets before testing.
Surprisingly all 37 paitents who tested with Tiniboy lancet reported no puncture pain while only 2 patients who used the other lancets reported no pain.
You can download this article published in an international diabetic medical journal. http://la-press.com/article.php?article_id=1820
I sincerely hope that this TiniBoy lancet can ease the pain of my fellow diabetic patients and improve the compliance for the diabetic care, thus reducing complications of diabetes.
I used the Peilikan Sun lancing device and wasn’t aware that they discontinued the product until today. I had enough lancets and now I am getting close to running out and when trying to order some learned that they discontinued this product over 6 months ago. I did not mind the higher cost of the device because I wanted something pain-free and I can say without hesitation that this lancing is as close to pain-free lancing as it gets. This is a real blow to all the advancements made in trying to get to pain free lancing.
I was wondering if you would be willing to sell your Pelikan Sun device?
if you haven’t tried the accuchek multiclix device you don’t know what your missing. it has 11 depth settings to illiminate hitting nerve endings and uses unique technology with no side to side movement of lancet so no painful tearing of the skin. the 6 preloaded lancets come in a drum so you never see or handle a needle the whole time plus the drum can be disposed in the trash w/o exposed needles for safety.
I’ve only had t-II diabetes for maybe two years now. It’s nicely controlled with Metformin (with no significant harsh side effects). My doc say come in once every six months for a blood test, and office visit. No problem whatsoever. I’m the curious type so I got a free meter and lancing kit from One Touch. I do tests every month or so, sometimes more frequently. It’s all good, completely under control.
As for the finger sticks the device One Touch sent seems perfectly fine to me. I tried it on 1, 2, and 3 …nothing. Went to 4 and viola a speck of blood for the test strip. I have always had a high pain threshold so I guess it’s me, but at 4 I have yet to feel anything significant in pain. Sometimes I stick my finger and don’t even know it broke the skin until I squeeze blood out. The site heals fast – really fast – and 5 minutes later I’m like I was before the test.
For me the One Touch standard mini lancet device works superbly.