Courtesy of Proteus Digital Health.
For the most part, the responsibility has been in the hands of the patient. Think pill boxes marked with the days of the week, or their high-tech versions—apps, like Medisafe and CareClinic, that help users self-report their own intake and schedules. These reminder devices don’t go far enough, say some doctors, because they fail to address a very human fault that patients report as their primary reason for not taking their medication: forgetfulness.
“George looks at me and says, ‘That is the stupidest idea you’ve had in your entire life.’ And then we began to argue,” Thompson says. Keratin Biosciences wants to improve medication intake by getting rid of human error altogether. Instead of a pill, this Lexington, Massachusetts, company makes a microchip with hundreds of sealed compartments, each of which can store up to 1 milligram of a drug. The chip, which originated in a lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, can be activated by a wireless signal that triggers the compartments to release the drug, based on a preprogrammed dosing schedule.
AngelAuYeung I understand & appreciate the benefit, like with hypertension. But jeez Louise, talk about Big Brother. 'This person is noncompliant with their meds... they are a risk to hire, a risk to insure.' I can see that info going all kinds of ways wrong.