U.S. Approves Digital Pill That Tracks When Patients Take it

U.S. regulators on Tuesday approved the first digital pill with an embedded sensor to track if patients are taking their medication properly, marking a significant step forward in the convergence of healthcare and technology.The medicine is a version of Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co Ltd’s established drug, Abilify, for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression, containing a tracking device developed by Proteus Digital Health.
The system offers doctors an objective way to measure if patients are swallowing their pills on schedule, opening up a new avenue for monitoring medicine compliance that could be applied in other therapeutic areas.