Wireless Smart Pill Bottle Cap Reminds Patients to Take Pills
October 8, 2009 10:35 AM | AT&T | Technology | Comments (0)
| Vitality Inc., a Cambridge, Massachusetts startup, will announce today a pill bottle cap that when opened uses a close range wireless signal to tell a base station in the home of its status. The base station looks like a night light has a cell phone inside that sends messages through AT&T's wireless network. The reason for this contraption is to remind people to take their pills. According to a study published last August by the New England Healthcare Institute, death rates are twice as high for people with diabetes and heart disease who don't take their pills properly. If a pill bottle cap isn't opened at the appropriate time, the cap and night light will start to blink to remind the patient to take their medication. If that isn't enough to alert the patient, a jingle will be played as well. If the bottle is still not opened, the night light will send a message to Vitality's system which then places an automate phone call or send a text message with a reminder. Vitality can also be setup to alert a relative if the patient isn't taking their medicine. |  |
Vitality has been selling an earlier version of this product on its Web site for $99. In this version, the night light doesn't contain a cell phone; however, it connects to a "gateway" plugged into a home's Internet router. The problem with this set up is that not all homes have routers and configuring them can be difficult. The AT&T-powered night light will simplify the installation.
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