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With our busy lives, many of us forget what is most important to us: our health. Instead of remembering to take our pills in the morning, our priority is checking our blackberry to see if we received any e-mails. For some patients, pills can be the fine line between life and death. Many elderly people who live alone can sometimes forget to take their daily dosage of medication and people suffering from a mental illness may oversee the importance of taking their drugs.

Proteus Biomedical is presently developing and testing a digestible chip that can be attached to pills. Once swallowed, these devices send a signal to a wireless receiver on the skin saying whether or not it was ingested properly. The doctor is then notified if their patient has successfully taken their prescribed medication. Monitoring their prescription intake on a daily basis can prevent further disaster and keep the patient’s overall health in order. According to the Scripps research institute, the medication monitoring system can save billions of dollars annually:

- $10.1 billion for patients with congestive heart failure

- $6.1 billion for patients with diabetes

- $4.9 billion for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

http://www.ihealthbeat.org/Articles/2009/8/5/Companies-Tap-Wireless-Technology-To-Boost-Care-Reduce-Costs.aspx