Wireless medical devices: the technological future of healthcare?
The FDA has approved the first digital pill, fitted with an ingestible sensor confirming the patient has taken their medication. How it works, and what it implies.
In the United States, the FDA has approved the first digital pill, fitted with a small ingestible sensor whose purpose is to confirm that the patient has actually taken their medication — in this case a treatment for psychological disorders.
How it works
The process is more elaborate than it sounds. The inside of the capsule carries printed lines, including an antenna, made with an ink of non-toxic conductive silver nanoparticles. When the capsule meets stomach acid, a signal is sent to the receiver in a patch worn by the patient. The patch then relays the information onward.
Treatment adherence is one of the oldest unsolved problems in medicine. A device that reports, rather than asks, changes what a clinician can know about why a treatment is not working.