Making sure the medicine goes down

The prototype is intended to pave the way for mass-produced pills that, when ingested, automatically alert doctors, relatives or scientists working with patients in clinical drug trials.

‘It is a way to monitor whether a patient is taking their medication in a timely manner,’ said Rizwan Bashirullah, UF assistant professor in electrical and computer engineering.

Bashirullah designed the prototype with doctoral student Hong Yu, University of Florida materials science and engineering professor Chris Batich, and Neil Euliano of Gainesville-based Convergent Engineering.

The pill itself is a white capsule coated with a label embossed with lines. The lines comprise the antenna, which is printed using ink made of nontoxic conductive silver nanoparticles. The pill also contains a tiny microchip, about the size of a full stop.

When a patient takes the pill, it communicates with a small electronic device carried or worn by the patient, which in the future could be built into a watch or cell phone. The device then signals a mobile phone or laptop that the pill has been ingested, in turn informing doctors or family members.