The Medic eCap emits an audible or visual alarm, reminding patients to take their medicine

The Medic eCap emits an audible or visual alarm, reminding patients to take their medicine

A medicine bottle with an electronic tag is promising to improve the results of clinical drug trials. The Medic eCap – developed by Information Mediary Corp of Ottawa, Canada and launched at last week’s Interphex exhibition in New York – incorporates an RFID (radio frequency identification) chip in the cap’s liner.

The cap emits an audible or visual alarm, reminding the patient to take their medication. The RFID chip then records the time at which the cap is removed from the bottle. “Around half of all patients in clinical trials do not take their medication properly,” says IMC product manager James Neilson.

He says this automatic monitoring will produce more accurate results in clinical trials, allowing drugs to be commercialised more quickly.