Ottawa-based medical compliance technology specialist Information Mediary Corporation and Singaporean company Remind Cap International have developed what they believe is the world’s first ‘smart RFID’ medication bottle.
Plastic liner components are from Owens-Illinois Prescription Products Inc.
The Med-ic eCAP bottle features an electronic reminder and monitoring system that tracks medication usage “without active patient input” through IMC’s Med-ic RFID ‘smart’ tag embedded in a Remind Cap International bottle closure. It reminds patients when the next dose is due and records when they open the bottle to remove tablets or capsules. The data can be retrieved with an IMC CertiScan reader by physician or pharmacist.
IMC plans targeting two critical areas – patient non-compliance and improving the security of the pharmaceutical supply chain.
Chief executive officer Michael Petersen explains: “The closure can be set to remind the patient, by a small speaker, when to take the next dose, and the RFID chip will record each good event, that is whenever the cap is open for more than a few seconds, suggesting a tablet has been taken.
“A pharmacist receiving medicine bottles can also check if any have been tampered with and, if so, how many tablets have been removed.”
IMC is targeting large clinical trials, laboratories and pharmaceutical chains, several of whom are to undertake trials.