One of the most important aspects of medicine is taking the prescribed medications at the prescribed times. Taking your prescribed medications on time, every time is the most assured way of gaining maximum benefit from them. This holds true whether they are antibiotics of medications related to IVF. Well, the pharmaceutical industry is developing a way to help people do just that in the form of digital medications.
Digital pill
The digital pill may sound like science fiction, but it is actually being developed right now and is expected to begin use as early as next year. The drug Abilify, prescribed for patients with schizophrenia and/or bipolar disorder, will be the first drug to utilize this new technology.
However, the technology can be applied to any medication whether it’s opioids for pain management patients to prevent abuse and misuse, or antibiotics in order to make sure the entire prescription are used. Failure to complete the prescribed dosage is a leading cause for recurrence and the reason why germs and virus’ are able to build antibiotic resistance.
The technology can also be applied to IVF medications to monitor patients use to make sure the drugs are being properly used. Timing is very important during IVF procedures and if a procedure fails the doctor can look back at the schedule of when medications were taken in order to determine if there were late or missed doses.
How it works
It works by means of a microscopic simple sensor that emits an electrical charge when it comes into contact with stomach acid. The patient (for now) must wear a small patch on their side that picks up this electrical signal and records the information like the time and date the pill was taken.
Privacy concerns
Some people may voice concerns over privacy as this technology advances to the point that every pill we take, including over the counter medications for the common cold or headaches will be tracked and recorded merely to help the pharmaceutical companies market their drugs more efficiently.