The Food and Drug Administration in
the United States has approved a request by Proteus Digital Health to
allow for the inclusion of tiny digestible microchips into medicines to
assist health care workers in monitoring intake of medicines by
patients. Previously, the FDA had allowed such microchips only in
placebo products.
Proteus, the maker of the chips, plans to market them
to drug manufactures who can then imbed them in individual pills that
allow for electronic reporting to doctors letting them know if and when
patients take their medicines
The
microchip, which is described as about the size of a grain of sand, is
made of copper, magnesium and silicon, reacts with stomach juices when
swallowed along with a pill. Upon reaction, it sends a signal to a patch
the patient has applied to their skin where it is relayed to a
smartphone.
The smartphone then relays the information to the doctor’s
office, allowing physicians to track how well a patient adheres to
instructions on when and how often they are to take their meds. Proteus
insists the aim is not to prod doctors and nurses into becoming nagging
nannies, but to provide information that allows doctors to modify the
types of medications they prescribe and the schedules to which the
patients are asked to follow. Once the microchip has done its job, it
dissolves and passes out of the body along with other digested food.
source: medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-fda-electronic-chips-medications.html
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