Data-Broadcasting Chip-on-a-Pill to Start Testing Within 18 Months

A swiss pharm company, known as Novatis, is working on a computer chip that would be able to be attached to a prescription pill. These chips would be ingested with the medication, and would monitor the body from the inside. The patients would wear patches on their body that would reciece signals from the chip, and then forward the message to the doctor. The chip could possibly be activated by the acidity of the stomach. These would allow for doctors to make sure that the patients were taking their medication at the proper times, and in the proper dosages. It would also allow the doctor to track a range of biological information such as heart rate and temperature. These chips would be very beneficial to medical professionals. They would allow the doctors to make sure that their patients are doing what they are supposed to, while also seeing how they are affected. By doing this, doctor's could better tailor medication regiments to the individual.

This article interested me because it reminded me of nanobots. Even though this is much larger, it is still introducing technology into the body to help facilitate, and better understand, good health.

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-11/novartis-plans-chip-pill-transmits-info-doctors-within-18-months