Page 48 Daily Mail, Tuesday, July 30, 2019A
smart pill bottle that
automatically dispenses
tablets at a set time has
been designed to reduce
the number of patients nottaking their medication properly.
While there are pill boxes that can work
to a time-release mechanism (opening at a
pre-set time), the new device also records if
the patient has taken their medication —
and sends them reminders if they haven’t.
It looks like any other pill bottle, but a
dispensing slot in the childproof lid is
controlled by an app on a mobile phone
and is set to open at a certain time of day.
When that time arrives, the patient
responds to a reminder on the app, which
triggers the dispensing slot to open. they
then tilt the bottle upside down and a pill
or two, depending on the dose, is dispensed.
the mechanism can be adjusted to suit pills
or capsules of differing shapes and sizes.
the app records the fact that the dose
has been taken out and then locks the
bottle until the next one is due — reducing
the risk of accidental overdose. the data
is sent to a central database.
the app will sound a reminder to the
patient if a dose is missed or has not
By LUCY
ELKINS
Smart pill pot
tells you (and
your doctor) if
you miss a dose
been taken after a certain length
of time. a message can then be
sent to the patient’s phone.
T
he information can also be
sent from the central data-
base (for instance, by email)
to notify their doctor if a
dose continues to be missed after
a certain length of time. a call can
then be made to the patient.
about half of patients are thought
not to take prescribed medicines
as directed, and this can have major
ramifications: a 2013 study in the
BmJ found patients who do not
take blood pressure medication as
recommended have an almost four-
fold increased risk of dying from
a stroke. another 2013 study, from
aston University, found this can
cost the Nhs in excess of £500 mil-
lion in extra care (for example, due
to hospital visits, since not taking
their medication as directed can
lead to a deterioration in health).
People commonly miss a dose or
take it at the wrong time. this so-
called non-adherence also affects
the outcome of drug trials, as the
benefits and side-effects may not
be as accurately measured.
It’s hoped the new smart bottle,
Pill Connect, could help on bothcounts. the information sent
to the data bank can be viewed
by a doctor — or by scientists
running a trial.
the system, developed by elucid
mhealth in manchester, has so far
been subject to two trials, of around
20 people, which found it effective
and popular with patients.
the first trial of Nhs patients —
12 in total — is now under way
at manchester Infirmary and will
conclude next month. It aims to
build on the previous results and
iron out any technical issues.
so far, the system has worked
correctly 91 per cent of the time.
this will pave the way for larger
studies later this year, involving 200
patients with chronic conditionssuch as diabetes, or who are taking
anti-rejection medication following
a transplant.
It is hoped the reusable unit,
which will cost around £25 when
launched, can then be used in
drug trials and for medication
prescribed by doctors as earlyas next year. Other systems have
been trialled to improve non-
adherence — for example, sending
text reminders. But unlike with
Pill Connect, there is no way to
then check if patients have taken
the medication.
simon maxwell, a professor of
clinical pharmacology at the
University of edinburgh, says:
‘Non-adherence is a very important
topic — in my field, hypertension,
it is the most common cause of not
being able to manage the condition
properly, so anything that helps
with this has to be welcomed.
‘One of the causes of non-
adherence is when doctors aren’t
able, due to time pressures, to
fully explain the benefits of the
medication they are prescribing,
and this won’t help with that.
‘But I think there are a lot more
pluses than drawbacks.’
meanwhile, a new type of capsule
could remove the need for patients
to take multiple pills every day.
made using 3D-printing and filled
by robots, the capsule is comprised
of several compartments, the walls
of which dissolve to release the
contents separately
at different
times. the thick-
ness of the walls
can be varied to
dissolve depend-
ing on how quickly
or slowly each medi-
cation needs to
be released.
the developer, U.s.-
based multiply Labs,
says it is working with
pharmaceutical firms to develop a
capsule that contains multiple
widely used, generic drugs (the
details of which have not been
released), but hopes the technology
will be used to produce capsules
with people’s personalised drug
requirements in years to come.Clever: The Pill
Connect works
via a smartphone appsth