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A medical research team has created a prototype of a new type of pill which unfolds inside the stomach so it can release a drug slowly over ten days or more.
The new device, which has been tested in pigs, could be a potential solution not only for patients with chronic diseases, but also as a way to treat conditions in third world countries that require long-term therapies, such as malaria. The researchers published the results of their proof-of-concept study in the journal Science Translational Medicine on Wednesday.
The pill had to overcome some major hurdles. The stomach contains extremely strong muscles that ensure every last drop of food makes its way out into the small intestine, so it's hard for pills to have staying power. To combat this, the researchers designed the drug so that when swallowed, the capsule opens up into a sort of star. This shape prevents the pill from leaving the stomach and entering the small intestine.
[...] Once the pill releases the last dose, it breaks apart and can finally pass out of the stomach and into the small intestine.
It's still in early stages of development, but this could be a life-saving development for the up to 50% of patients who do not take their medications as prescribed.
(Score: 2) by jdavidb on Monday November 21 2016, @10:39PM
Here have another. I'm so old I remember the contaminated tylenol story from the late 70s or maybe it was early 80s by then. How about a sci fi plot with this stuff where 1 in a billion anti-anxiety pills makes the pill taker pop like that alien in the Aliens movie. I can't imagine that resulting in high levels of anxiety or anything. Maybe done by a James Bond-ian bad guy complete with his pet white cat and mysterious island lair and all that.
Sounds vaguely like Visioneers.
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