Pills That Rat You Out for Not Taking Your Meds
Researchers have developed a special type of pill that can notify doctors if a patient is not taking his or her medication.
The fine people at the University of Florida have developed a type of pill that can notify a doctor or family member when a patient has taken his or her medicine. Dubbed 'tattletale pills,' the new type of pill is comprised of two parts. The first is a pill capsule coated with a label embossed with silvery lines. These lines are the antenna and are printed using ink made of nontoxic, conductive silver nanoparticles. The pill also contains a tiny microchip, one about the size of a period.
The second part is an electronic device carried or worn by the patient, which doctors are hoping can someday be incorporated into cell phones or watches. This device is responsible for powering the antenna and chip inside the pill and confirming to doctors that the pill has been ingested. The device sends power to the pill via bursts of extremely low voltage electricity. These bursts energize the microchip to send signals relayed via the antenna. The device then sends a message to a doctor or carer's laptop or cell phone, confirming that the pill has been taken. Eventually, the patient's stomach acid breaks down the antenna and the microchip is passes through the gastrointestinal tract.
The University of Florida cites the American Heart Association as saying the failure to follow prescription regimens is “the number one problem in treating illness today.” The AHA says 10 percent of hospital admissions result from patients not following the guidelines on their prescriptions and refers to studies that say patients with chronic diseases usually only take about half their prescribed medications. Other studies found that not taking medication properly results in 218,000 deaths annually.
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So we've come to the point as a society where people must take a pill to notify other people - other pills were not taken.
How about we let nature take its course and invest time & resources into something broader.
Okay, admittedly these are pretty cool. I'm excited it might save some of those '218,000' deaths. (How many of those deaths are intentional to OD though?) But I have a few reservations. 1) Microchips get expensive. Add that cost to the initial cost of the pills...and Americans start paying even more for healthcare. 2)We already have so much external monitoring in out society. We need to build the internal more.
Of course, those aside, this is a pretty interesting article! It's kind of cool to see how technology develops. Used sparingly on the right patients, this just might help a good number of patients.
How about just putting the pill in some vinegar?
Or bleach, which ever is the right PH...
Yea, and that guy looks THRILLED to have to take that damn thing.
So we've come to the point as a society where people must take a pill to notify other people - other pills were not taken.How about we let nature take its course and invest time & resources into something broader.
Lots of pills these days are digestible capsules filled with powdered meds. Though they're calling these "tattletale pills" they describe them as capsules so I'm assuming the idea is that they put regular meds/pills into the special antenna capsules.
Yea, and that guy looks THRILLED to have to take that damn thing.
He's a researcher at the University of Florida. Think he was part of the team that developed it.
I agree Rab1d-BDGR on the patients who may attempt suicide, but who would OD on medication they knew has tiny capsules in it? And mlopinto2k1, I agree with you too. How would doctors know you didn't just dissolve the pill...or give it to someone else? It would have to be given to the forgetful. It would not work for those trying to sidestep their meds.
You guys realize this is a april fools joke right?
Better to swallow it then to get it in reverse, if you know what I mean.
Just admit me... I am not voluntarily going to let somebody track me like this. I am an adult and will be treated as such. The only time I can see this being a valid method is if it is court ordered for a person that has stability issues and must take medication to regulate or they are a danger to society. Otherwise if we don't take our meds then it is on us.
xybercoke, it could be a joke...but there's been many developments similar to this. *shrug*
Better to swallow it then to get it in reverse, if you know what I mean.
It very well could be but the technology is out there to do just as this article suggests.
why do you guys have such a large building to work out of. i work out of my step mom's basement and i own three tribes 2 512-bit encrypted servers running simultaneously. FAIL, TOM. FAIL!
lol, they need to make these for Birth Control so a guy can tell if his girl is taking it
I'm guessing april fools
You are a danger to society for not taking your soylent green soma anti-belligerence medication. You are hereby prohibited from using public facilities, such as roads, internet access, and electricity. Your license plate is tracked at every stoplight and you will be arrested for crimes against society if you are found using these facilities while under the influence of free will. Individuals who harm society must be re-educated.
sleep, healthy diet and exercise, is all we need not nano pills
yeahhh....
This is dumb.
"The pill also contains a tiny microchip, one about the size of a period."
What kind of a "period"?
LOL
This is not an april fools joke. Just check out the link in the article for the university of florida web site. The actual article was published march 31st. It's legit. :-)
Believe It!
168,000 search results for capsule endoscopy!!!
My Grandma needs these.
I take care of an elderly couple who would very rarely take their pills if I weren't helping them. Between the elderly and the mentally ill, such a device could save billions in health care, reduce suffering and save lives.
Ever seen "A Beautiful Mind"? That's why these pills would be useful and are clearly not an April Fool's joke.
Microchips and nanoparticles - I guess the government will also have access to you via satellite too. Yeah right! April Fools joke for sure.
Clearly can't be real. Think about it: since the pill is breaks down in the digestive system, the patient has to keep taking them. If the patient isn't taking there regular meds, why would they keep taking this pill? And if taking this pill is supervised, then just save a lot of trouble and money by supervising the actual meds.
This is awesome. Eventually it'll tell doctors how often you have oral intercourse. Then things will get a little awkward in the clinic...
"The pill also contains a tiny microchip, one about the size of a period."
Lol, so the microchip is about 7 days big?
yes, soon you will be required to take those, so the doc can feed those greedy pharmaceutical companies even better.
I see that coming. You dont take those, your health insurance jumps 20 percent. If you do take those, you have to keep up with pill costs.
People are being turned into slaves. If hundreds years ago we could overthrow government, today we are as weak as never before. One step from slavery are we, the fact that brings me pain and sorrow to know that the freedom that we so liked to enjoy is being taken away.
Corporations took all the power from us, individualized us, fragmented the internet and continue to do so, control us in every possible way.
ZOG is watching you, be careful. Love those close to you and worry about your children
"The pill also contains a tiny microchip, one about the size of a period."
What font? Come on, Jane. Be more specific or use a different example.
We can understand die measurements just fine, so I don't know why a size in mm^2 wouldn't be more appropriate for this.
On topic: It's an interesting concept, but too expensive at the moment. On the other hand, this would be a life saver for men with extremely dumb and/or forgetful girlfriends who forget to take their birth control.
At least this article reminded me to take my blood pressure meds for today, so it wasn't a total waste.