(This is just an excerpt from The SDK: 2015.09.18, but I wanted the article and commentary to have its own post)

REALLY BIG DEAL!!! This Needs To Reach The Market

Proteus Digital Health And Otsuka Seek FDA Approval For World’s First Digital Pill, Forbes, Sept. 14, 2015

“California-based Proteus Digital Health and Otsuka Pharmaceuticals have created the world’s first smart pill with an ingestible sensor linked to a wearable patch that can record when a pill is actually taken.. . . Proteus Digital Health reported on September 9 that the FDA will be reviewing its unique “chip within a pill” device for the depression and schizophrenia medication, Abilify, to hopefully gain approval as the worlds first digital medication.. . . That said, the issue of rights and privacy related to digital medications will be an important legal issue that insurers will likely have to face in the near term assuming such technology becomes widely adopted. Legal challenges may become important, as insurers could have the ability to record and track medication compliance.”
Note: I kept the summary short, but this is a mind-blowing advance in health technology. Read the article. Also, I would really like to work at this company. So, if you know anyone, holler.

If you really don’t have time to read the article, then at least read a bit more about the pill + the patch:
“When ABILIFY with the embedded ingestible sensor is taken, the ingestible sensor sends a signal to the wearable Proteus patch after it reaches the stomach. The patch records and time-stamps the information from the ingestible sensor in addition to collecting other patient metrics, including rest, body angle and activity patterns. This information is recorded and relayed to patients on a mobile phone or other Bluetooth-enabled device, and only with their consent, to their physician and/or their caregivers. Patients view the information using a secure and local software application on their mobile phone or device. Physicians and caregivers view the data using secure web portals.”