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The Past and Present of Digital Pills: The Great Leap Forward in Technology from 1957 to 2017!
In the current era of rapid advancement in medical technology, digital pills, as an emerging pharmaceutical dosage form, are gradually changing our understanding of drug use and monitoring. This electronic ingestion sensor automatically transmits medical data once a patient swallows a pill to better monitor medication compliance. However, with its popularity, there are also many discussions about privacy and economic interests.
The purpose of digital pills is to ensure that patients are taking their medications on time, and such compliance is critical for many patients with chronic diseases.
In 1957, the first swallowable electronic device was born. Although its progress stalled for a time, technological advancements in the 1990s brought new vitality to this field. It was not until 2017 that the first digital pills approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) were released. This important milestone symbolized a leap in digital medicine.
Technical overview of digital pills
Aripiprazole (Abilify) produced by Otsuka Pharmaceuticals is a digital pill used in the treatment of schizophrenia. The sensor inside, developed by Proteus Digital Health, is activated by stomach acid and sends electrical signals. The data is sent to a smartphone app via a patch attached to the chest. The birth of this technology not only provides patients with more monitoring options for taking medications, but also raises concerns about their privacy and security.
Despite the potential of e-pills, concerns among some schizophrenia patients may make widespread use of the technology challenging.
Types of digital pills
Currently, the most common eating sensors on the market are mainly used for image monitoring, gas sensing, drug compliance and drug absorption monitoring. These different digital pill technologies have different application characteristics.
Image surveillance
Typically, photography and video require large amounts of data transfer. Swallowable capsules combined with a video camera are used to examine the macroscopic structure of hollow organs such as the stomach and small intestine, and are far less invasive than traditional endoscopy.
Gas sensing
The gas sensing capsule uses a gas permeable membrane and an electrochemical gas sensor, which is mainly used to detect the pressure of various gases produced by metabolic reactions in the intestine. This data can help us understand our digestive health.
Drug monitoring
Some eating sensors are specifically designed to monitor the absorption and compliance performance of drugs. These sensors are activated by pH changes in the stomach and transmit data via Bluetooth.
Electrochemical induction
Analysis of stool samples through voltammetry can be used as a new tool for intestinal diagnosis and provides a new direction for the identification of diseases.
Potential applications of digital pills
Due to the particularity of swallowable sensors, they are particularly suitable for collecting data inside the digestive tract, covering multiple organs such as the mouth, esophagus, stomach and colon. The diversity of these technologies allows us to gain insights into the inner workings of the human body.
Oral cavity
Sensors used in the mouth can be used to detect electrolyte imbalances, metabolic conditions in the body, and a variety of potential infections.
Esophagus
A digital pill with imaging capabilities could be used in endoscopy to detect inflammation and tears in the esophagus.
Stomach
The digital pill can detect the pH of the stomach to help analyze the digestive process and look for pathogens such as Helicobacter pylori at specific locations.
Colon
In-house colon testing can be used to diagnose conditions such as infection, malabsorption and colon cancer, and has advantages over traditional endoscopy.
Security and future prospects
Most digital pills use silver oxide batteries; lithium-ion batteries are avoided to prevent damage to the digestive system. In terms of technical operation, in order to promote the movement of the pills, most digital pills rely on passive precession, but there are also ways to guide the movement through external magnetic fields.
Although the safety of digital pills has been tested by many parties, the potential interaction between them and devices such as cardiac pacemakers is still unresolved.
In general, in just a few decades from 1957 to 2017, digital pill technology has experienced a huge leap from scratch. Facing the future, the development of digital medicine will undoubtedly change the face of the medical industry, but issues such as privacy, security, and economic benefits still need to be addressed during the promotion process to ensure the sustainable development of the technology. How do you view the role of digital pills in your health management?
