In the US began to use digital microtablets
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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The Office of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the application in medical practice on the territory of the country of the so-called digital microtablet - a tiny sensor sensor that, after entering the human gastrointestinal tract, can transmit information about its health to various digital devices, reports Medical News Today.
Ingestion Event Marker (IEM) in August 2010 was authorized for use in the European Union and is the first such development, which was approved by the FDA.
The IEM-sized grain of sand contains no batteries and is a silicon microcircuit with conductor materials fixed on both sides, placed in a soluble shell. After being swallowed in the stomach, the sensor is activated for a short time under the influence of acidic gastric juice and begins to transmit the signal to a larger microchip attached to the skin with a patch.
This microchip, in turn, records the time of receiving the signal from the IEM and retransmits it either to the computer or mobile phone of the attending physician or guardian of the patient, or to an electronic device belonging to the patient himself. After the IEM passes through the digestive tract, it fulfills its function, it is excreted from the body in the usual way.
As the company-developer of the device, based in California Proteus Digital Health, IEM can be used to remotely monitor the timely and correct reception of prescribed medications by patients, which is especially important during clinical trials of various drugs. It is assumed that the patient should swallow such a sensor simultaneously with the medicine, after which the doctor or guardian of the patient receives information about the time of reception and the amount of the drug taken. IEM manufacturers hope that in the future, pharmaceutical companies will include it in the drugs directly in the process of their production.
In addition to information on taking medications, it is noted in Proteus Digital Health, with the help of IEM, you can also remotely receive information about the work of different systems of the patient's body, which allows the doctor to have a permanent and full picture of what is happening.
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