Diagnostic Pill

The technologies of “smart pills” have been evolving for a couple of years, but an engineering group at the University of Florida has a new twist-what they call a “tattletale pill.”  Within the medication capsule, they place a microchip and digestible antenna that send a signal to a receiver indicating that the pill has been swallowed. If and when this device is FDA approved, it may be unlikely, because of cost, to be used for normal medication adherence-e.g. Alzheimer’s or behavioral health patients-but this could be a solution for clinical trials of new drugs, where non compliance clouds efficacy testing.  MORE

Image credit:  Ray Carson, UF News Bureau and redorbit.com