Step Forward
Delivering Trusted, Intelligent Diabetes Management With Insulet
People with diabetes live a life of constant balancing. Glucose levels shift throughout the day, influenced by many factors, including food, activity, stress, illness and environmental conditions. For many, maintaining glucose balance requires constant calculation — counting carbohydrates, checking readings and determining when and how much insulin to inject. Even small miscalculations can quickly become emergencies.
While millions rely on insulin every day, most still manage it without diabetes technology. In the U.S., 1.7 million people live with type 1 diabetes, yet only about 40% use an insulin pump. Among people with type 2 diabetes who depend on basal-bolus insulin therapy, adoption is even lower — around 5%.¹ For many, care still depends on manual systems that demand continuous attention. As the need for insulin therapy continues to grow, the limitations of traditional approaches become increasingly evident.
For more than two decades, Insulet and NXP have worked together to advance diabetes management. NXP has evolved from Insulet's chip supplier into a trusted partner. Leveraging Insulet's application expertise and NXP's secure, low-power connectivity and power-management technologies, the collaboration supports intelligent insulin delivery through Insulet's Omnipod® — a tubeless, wearable insulin delivery system that automates key aspects of diabetes management.
This collaboration helps reduce the daily burden of diabetes care. By supporting automated insulin delivery, it enables more consistent management and gives people more freedom in everyday life.
The Challenge: Precision Insulin Delivery, Without Pause
Insulin delivery demands accuracy every minute of the day. People rely on their pump through commutes, workouts, travel and sleep. For the system, there is no downtime. It must be reliable. Wireless communication must remain stable. Security must remain intact.
Across multiple generations, Insulet's Omnipod platform has steadily taken on more of the daily work of diabetes management. In the latest generation, the Omnipod 5, the system moves to a new level: automating insulin delivery itself.
This advancement adds a new layer of technical complexity. The system must continuously receive glucose data, make dosing decisions every few minutes and respond predictably as conditions change — all within a discreet device designed to operate for days on small batteries.
To support closed-loop insulin automation, the Omnipod 5 requires:
- Reliable wireless communication
- Predictable, real-time processing performance
- Extreme power efficiency for multi-day wear
- Strong security to protect every command and data exchange
- RF resilience across homes, workplaces, hospitals and public environments
All of these capabilities must also fit into a compact, wearable, cost-effective device that adheres to FDA and global medical standards.
Meeting Insulet's requirements demand a tightly integrated system approach, bringing connectivity, processing, security and power efficiency together in one powerful platform.
“Insulet's partnership with NXP supports our mission to transform the lives of people with diabetes. By integrating NXP's chips into our Omnipod platform, we've enhanced functional integration, energy efficiency and design performance - and delivered a discreet, tubeless insulin pump.”
Solution: Secure, Low-Power Edge Intelligence
To meet their system-level requirements, Insulet worked closely with NXP to design a secure, low-power edge architecture tailored for the Omnipod 5.
The Omnipod 5 is a small, tubeless pump that adheres directly to the user's skin and delivers rapid-acting insulin. The Pod does not measure glucose itself but responds to readings from a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) through automated dosing algorithms. Users interact with the system directly through a smartphone app in the U.S. or an Insulet-provided controller.
NXP Technology Inside
NHS52S04
An ultra-low power Bluetooth Low Energy 5.3 solution with a small footprint. The NHS52S04 device constitutes a highly integrated, single-chip, ultra-low-power Bluetooth Low Energy 5.3 wireless transceiver with embedded microcontroller and flash.
To address critical system challenges, Insulet selected NXP's NHS52S04, an ultra-low-power Bluetooth® Low Energy 5.3 solution with an embedded Arm® Cortex®-M33 microcontroller.
- Reliable, safe connectivity: The NHS52S04 establishes a secure bridge between the Pod, the smartphone and the CGM data stream, enabling real-time glucose data exchange and automated insulin adjustments. It continuously monitors system health, prevents failures and complies with medical-grade safety standards
- Extreme power efficiency: Designed for continuous operation on very small batteries, the NHS52S04's efficient architecture — drawing as little as 2.8 µA in low-power mode — supports Omnipod's 72-hour wear period without compromising performance
- Built-in hardware security: Integrated security features, including TrustZone® and cryptographic engines (AES, RSA, ECC, secure boot and PUF-based key storage), help protect system integrity and every command exchanged
NXP also supplied a custom power-management ASIC, designed to manage battery performance, enable pump activation and support functional safety requirements.
Together, these technologies enable Insulet to deliver automated insulin therapy with the precision, efficiency and reliability required for a modern wearable system.
Results: A Solution People Trust
Through NXP's commitment and ongoing partnership, Insulet delivers on its vision for Omnipod 5.
Clinical studies show that Omnipod 5 helps users achieve steadier glucose control and improved HbA1c levels compared with multiple daily injections.² Users also experience better quality of life, with less manual management and reduced stress.³ Hybrid closed-loop systems like Omnipod have been shown to increase time-in-range while reducing overnight lows.³
In everyday use, that translates into real benefits:
- Automated insulin adjustments that reduce the burden of manual dosing
- Consistent wireless performance during movement, work, sleep and daily routines
- Strong, hardware-based security for reliable operation in critical moments
- Multi-day wearability for stable, uninterrupted insulin delivery
Today, Omnipod 5 is the most prescribed automated insulin delivery system in the United States.⁴ Around the world, more than 600,000 people rely on Omnipod products every day.
“The Omnipod 5 demonstrates how system-level design — linking wireless communication, secure processing and low-power control — supports trusted, intelligent healthcare. NXP is proud to work with Insulet on a platform that brings safety and edge intelligence into an everyday medical device.”
What's Next
Insulet and NXP are building on a long history of collaboration. Since Insulet's first product release, NXP has shipped more than one billion chips in support of the Omnipod platform, reflecting decades of shared focus on reliability, security and performance.
Looking ahead, the collaboration continues. Future generations of Omnipod will integrate more adaptive algorithms and tighter coordination across the Pod, CGM and smartphone.
The goal remains simple: move more intelligence into the system, so people with diabetes can spend less time managing the condition and more time living their lives.
About Insulet
Insulet Corporation (NASDAQ: PODD), headquartered in Massachusetts, is an innovative medical device company dedicated to simplifying life for people with diabetes and other conditions through its Omnipod product platform. The Omnipod Insulin Management System provides a unique alternative to traditional insulin delivery methods. With its simple, wearable design, the tubeless disposable Pod provides up to three days of non-stop insulin delivery, without the need to see or handle a needle. Insulet's flagship innovation, the Omnipod 5 Automated Insulin Delivery System, integrates with a continuous glucose monitor to manage blood sugar with no multiple daily injections, zero fingersticks, and can be controlled by a compatible personal smartphone or the Omnipod 5 Controller. Insulet also leverages the unique design of its Pod by tailoring its Omnipod technology platform for the delivery of non-insulin subcutaneous drugs across other therapeutic areas.
Learn more about InsuletAuthor
Pierluigi Gardella
Pierluigi Gardella is an experienced executive with over 20 years in the semiconductor industry, specializing in IC and medical application technology. He led a global medical business unit for six years, driving innovation in ultrasound imaging, vital signs monitoring, molecular diagnostics, and ASIC/ASSP design. Holding a Master’s in Electronics & Telecommunication from Politecnico di Milano, he began his career in 3D and 2D graphics hardware IC development. In 2023, he joined NXP as Director of Engineering and Marketing for Healthcare within the Industrial and IoT Systems organization.