A Magneto-Inductive Sensor Based Wireless Pharmaceutical Compliance Monitoring System

We have developed a noninvasive wireless pharmaceutical compliance monitoring (PCM) system using an array of magneto-inductive sensors around the patient\´s neck in the form of a necklace to detect the passage of a pill or capsule embedded with a small permanent magnet as a tracer through the esophagus upon ingestion. As a result, a signal representing "dose ingestion event" is generated and wirelessly transmitted to a data delivery device (PDA), which is carried on the patient\´s body. A software application running on the PDA time/date stamps the event and stores it for later retrieval by a physician. This technology provides a safe, convenient, low-cost, and accurate detection mechanism that helps patients adhere with proper dosage of their medication. It also helps pharmaceutical companies conduct new drug trials more accurately. A prototype system using off-the-shelf components has been developed and successfully tested. Preliminary results using an artificial neck showed 94.4% correct detections when the magnetic tracer passed through the detection zone and about 6% false positives for outside areas.