'Smart Pills' Being Prescribed That Can Transmit Data To Doctors

One of the first 'Smart Pill' products to be approved by the US FDA has been the Abilify MyCite pill, which comes with an ingestible sensor that's been embedded in the pill. That sensor is able to record your personal health information and then it can ultimately transmit that data to your doctor, such as information about whether or not you've been taking your medication that day.

The product is both a patch and sensor, the biosensor is ingested and the patch is expected to be worn on the abdomen. This sensor is able to detect when a tablet has been dissolved in the stomach, the pill's sensor transmits a signal to the patch which can then communicate via a smartphone to send the information.

The product was essentially designed as a psychiatric medication system that's intended to treat bipolar 1 disorder, schizophrenia, and depression.

The growing prevalence of this sort of medicine has prompted concerns for the privacy issues that might go along with it. Who is the data going to be shared with? It's reported that the data is available through a virtual platform and that it will be available to a variety of individuals working in the healthcare field.

From improving patient compliance to helping patients remember whether or not they took their medication, these are the benefits being highlighted that the smart pill is intended to offer. Some healthcare professionals suggest that this technology is going to drastically transform the industry, it's the digital transformation of behavioral healthcare, making way for a new era in digital healthcare.

As far as patient compliance however, there are a myriad of reasons that have been credited with contributing to a lack of medication adherence.

They include reasons such as inadequate health literacy, patients feeling like they had a lack of involvement in the treatment decision, or because they view it as something potentially harmful to them, among other reasons.

Studies have shown that as much as 30 percent of prescriptions are never fulfilled at the pharmacy.

When previous studies assert that doctors might have a tendency to overprescribe however, can we blame anyone for being skeptical? Or when other studies suggest that a great deal of prescriptions being made might be unnecessary?. Bipolar disorder, depression, and schizophrenia as well, are mental health disorders that are credited with being frequently misdiagnosed.

Side effects for the Abilify MyCite product contain warnings of an increased risk of death to some elderly patients in specific cases, and an increased risk of suicidal thinking and behavior for young adults, adolescents, or children who are taking antidepressants. It also suggests that patients should be monitored for whether or not suicidal thoughts emerge or worsen. For their clinical trials, common side effects were dizziness, vomiting, constipation, nausea, headaches, uncontrollable body movements, insomnia, anxiety, restlessness, and skin irritation.

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pic 2- AbilifyMyCite via EpochTimes

The information that is posted above is not intended to be used as any substitute for professional medical advice, or diagnosis or treatment. The above is posted for informational purposes only.