If previously we heard about the camera pill, now there is the intelligent pill. Royal Philips Electronics has developed a technology called “iPill”, aimed at assisting drug development and enabling new therapies for debilitating and life-threatening digestive tract disorders such as Crohn’s disease, colitis and colon cancer.

The iPill is a capsule, the same size as a camera pill, and has been designed to be swallowed and pass through the digestive track naturally. It can be electronically programmed to control the delivery of medicine according to a pre-defined drug release profile.

The iPill determines its location in the intestinal tract by measuring the local acidity of its environment. It releases medicine from its drug reservoir through a microprocessor- controlled pump, allowing accurate programmable drug delivery.

The capsule is also designed to measure local temperature and report measurements wirelessly to an external receiver unit.