Patients will be fitted with a microchip in their shoulder
to remind them to take their medicine, under a new scheme
being developed by a drugs company.
Older people will be given pills containing a harmless microchip
that sends a signal to the chip in the shoulder when the pill
is taken.
But if the pill is not taken by the forgetful patient, the
chip in the shoulder will then send a text to a carer or the
patient to remind them.
Swiss pharmaceutical group Norvatis is developing the electronic
pill that it hopes will reduce the number of patients who
have to be supervised taking their medicine.
Joe Jiminez, head of pharmaceuticals at Novartis, said tests
of the 'chip in the pill' to a shoulder receiver chip had
been carried out on 20 patients.
