7 A TOUGH TRANSMITTER TO SWALLOW

Don’t you hate it when you can’t remember if you took your medication? Well, last year the FDA cleared a new “digital pill” that can text relatives and your doctor from inside the body to show you have indeed taken your meds.

The size of a poppy seed, this monitor can be placed inside a pill. When it encounters stomach acid, the sensor will send data to a skin patch worn by the patient. That patch will then send information via email or text message saying the pill has been taken. Andrew Thompson, chief executive officer at the U.S. firm Proteus Digital Health that has developed the digital pill, believes the invention could cut the number of drugs that are wasted each year, as well as help doctors and family member monitor compliance.