SBIR Phase II: Electronic Pills for Medication Compliance

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II research project shall evaluate the use of electronic pills for medication compliance monitoring. Medication compliance monitoring is critical in pharmaceutical clinical trials, geriatrics, and mental health /addiction medicine. The only proven method for accurately determining medication compliance is directly observed therapy where personnel are present during ingestion by the patient. This technique is labor intensive, but effective. In vivo biotelemetry and monitoring is a rapidly growing field that may provide the next critical breakthrough in medical monitoring. This research will focus on the development of these two solutions, namely a UHF resorbable antenna printed on the outside of an existing capsule or pill with or without a chip designed to improve signal to noise ratio and provide ID capability. The antennas will be printed with standard ink-jet technology. A handheld RF communication device will sense the presence of the pill in the GI tract and positively confirm that the medication regimen
was followed appropriately. Electronic pill technology and R&D will help expand the rapidly growing field of in vivo telemetry. The development of biodegradable low power miniature circuits will be an important step to future bio-implantable chips and sensors. Additionally, the field of medication compliance is tremendously important in many areas of medicine. In particular, better compliance monitoring can greatly reduce the costs associated with FDA approval of pharmaceuticals as well as provide dramatically improved data for accurate determination of low probability side effects.