Engineering researchers at the University of Florida have developed a designer pill that can track whether patients are taking their medication on time and in a prescribed fashion. The pills which are affectionately coined “tattletale pills” consist of a standard white capsule that have been “coated with a label embossed with silvery lines.” The lines are actually nontoxic antennas that derive their color from the silver nanoparticles.

When a medical patient ingests the pill, it communicates using the antenna with an external device that the patient is wearing which in turn transmits the information to a cell phone or laptop. Through this communication, doctors and concerned family members can measure patient compliance with medication regiments.

What is interesting about this new pill is that no battery source is required for it to function. All necessary power is received from “imperceptible bursts of extremely low-voltage electricity” from the external device that the patient is wearing.

Though this medical technology is still in the development stage, one of the aims of the researchers is to eventually do away with the standalone external device and instead replace it with something that is small enough that it could fit into a watch that the patient would wear.

Via: Gadgetlite, Gizmodo, UFL