The Electronic Pill

Not a new idea,  was presented to us in the 80s.   Advanced monitoring takes this further.

Electronic Pill Slowly Delivers Drugs, Monitors Health    by Kenny Walter  in R&D Mag

The hassle of taking medication every day could someday be eliminated, thanks to an ingestible electronic pill that lasts in the stomach for close to a month and releases medication only when necessary.

A research team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has developed the capsule, which could be designed to treat a variety of diseases and disorders and also enables physicians to monitor and control dosages using Bluetooth wireless technology and sensors.

Giovanni Traverso, a visiting scientist in MIT's Department of Mechanical Engineering, where he will be joining the faculty later in 2019 , explained in an exclusive interview with R&D Magazine that a major problem for patients is that they do not always adhere to their medication regime, particularly when they begin to start feeling better.

“One of the major focuses of our group is how we can make it easier for patients to take medication,” Traverso said. “That really is grounded on the observation that if one is given medication to take more infrequently that the patient is more likely to continue to take that medication. We developed some technologies that really enabled the oral delivery of systems that can stay in the stomach for long periods of time and stay there safely.”  ... "