Dutch group Philips has developed an “intelligent pill” that contains a microprocessor, battery, wireless radio, pump and a drug reservoir to release medication in a specific area in the body. 

Capsules containing ultra-miniature cameras are already in use as diagnostic tools, but lack the ability to deliver drugs. The challenge for scientists at Philips Research was to find a way of navigating a drug-loaded pill capsule to the site of disease and then releasing a metered amount of drug into the gut at that location.

Philips, one of the world’s biggest hospital equipment makers, said Tuesday that the “iPill” capsule, measures acidity with a sensor to determine its location in the gut, and can then release drugs where they are needed.

What Philips Research has developed is a pill that can be swallowed with food or water in the normal way and is then carried along by the normal movement of food through the gut. Knowing where the iPill is in the gut relies on the fact that the gut’s pH value (a measure of acidity) rises sharply upon exiting the stomach and becomes progressively alkaline from the upper intestine onwards. In addition, there is typically a noticeable drop in pH between the small intestine and the colon. Armed with pH information, which is measured by the iPill itself, and data about typical transit times through the gut, the iPill’s location in the gut can be determined with good accuracy. Where greater accuracy is required, external medical imaging equipment could be introduced. Locations where the drug needs to be released could also be determined by medical imaging – for example, endoscopy, MRI or CT scans.

While capsules containing miniature cameras are already used as diagnostic tools, those lack the ability to deliver drugs, Philips said.

The “iPill” can also measure the local temperature and report it wirelessly to an external receiver.

The company plans to present the “iPill” at the annual meeting of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) in Atlanta this month.

The iPill is a prototype but suitable for serial manufacturing, Philips said. The iPill contains all the components described above and miniaturization was made possible by advanced electronic and mechanical integration. System functionality has been verified by in-vitro testing. Successful programming, measurement, and reporting functions were shown. Drug delivery was verified with model drugs using dissolution apparatus test equipment. The accuracy of the amount of drug dispensed versus time was measured and found to be better than 0.8% (average deviation over 0 – 95% volume dispensed).

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