When a patient is prescribed a medication and does not follow through with the treatment, it causes a series of problems: it harms their own health, generates additional costs for public health systems or private insurers, and occupies the place of another patient in hospitals, for example.
It is estimated that "non-adherence" to physician-prescribed treatments generates a loss of US$ 100 billion per year.
The digital pill, developed by pharmaceutical company Novartis, may be a solution to all of these problems.
Here is how it works: when a patient ingests a "digital tablet," the physician and family members are automatically notified through an application.
Approximately the size of a grain of salt, the sensor has no battery or antenna and is activated when gastric juice moistens it.
This closes a circuit between copper and magnesium coatings on both sides, generating a small electrical charge. The signal is then sent to the receivers.
The technology has already been approved by the FDA, the United States regulatory agency, and is currently being used in medications for schizophrenia.
It will soon also be available in medications for diabetes and cardiac treatment.
Forecasts indicate that, in the long term, this technology will impact an entire chain.
A clear example is health insurance providers, which may be able to charge lower premiums to patients who strictly adhere to their treatments.
Source: Startse