The Californian biotechnology company, Proteus Biomedical, has declared it will soon be releasing a product known as Helius in the United Kingdom. Helius is proclaimed to be a special pill that can track other medications a patient might be taking. The Helius pill contains copper and magnesium that allow for current generation in the stomach’s acid. With this power source, Helius is able to monitor various factors such as heart rate, respiration rate, and core body temperature. These variables are continuously monitored, and any changes upon ingestion or lack of ingestion of a medication can be calibrated to automatically notify the patient. For example, if a patient’s heart rate suddenly changed due to failure to ingest a certain medication, Helius can send signals to a patient’s cell-phone or computer informing them of what medication is missing. This device offers great promise in monitoring patient compliance to often complex prescription drug regimens.
