Investigating Ingestible Technology

Our wearable technology could be about to go one step further.
Anyone clued into the tech scene in the last couple years will have heard time and time again that “wearables” are the undisputed future of tech. Heralded for their convenience, their heightened tracking ability and their supposed style, everything from the Fitbit to the Apple Watch has been positioned as the tech wave of the future. But it’s hard not to notice that despite all the hype they just haven’t caught on with the speed that smartphones or tablets have. One just needs to look at the failure of Google Glass for proof of that.
Indeed, despite their fanfare, there is a central problem with wearables that’s hard to ignore: they’re usually not that attractive. In many ways, that will remain a stumbling block. When designers are forced to put function over form, the outcome is going to be somewhat inevitable. In fact, in a study carried out by mobile tech specialists Adapmi, 30% of Britons said that “wearable tech made people look ‘ridiculous’ and only 10% admitted they’d ‘feel cool’ wearing it”. Even relatively successful mass consumer products like the Apple Watch can’t rival a finely made Cartier or Rolex in terms of aesthetics.
However, aside from its consumer appeal, there are some in the tech world who see wearables as the bridge to another tech future: ingestibles. It may sound crazy and outlandish, but the idea that we can temporarily ingest something (rather than have it permanently implanted), and have it be invisible and undetectable is appealing to a lot of people. We don’t have to wear it and yet we can still get the benefits of everything a wearable device can keep track of.
However, as with any early-stage technology there are a couple of big hurdles that need to be overcome: finding the right sensor and circuit material remains a challenge as they obviously need to both work inside the body and not harm the user. The second challenge concerns dealing with the somewhat variable and uncertain environment of the human body.
Right now most of the applications of ingestible tech are related to health—tracking our digestive tracks, the activities of our organs, and regularity of our vital signs. Here is a look at some of the more promising projects that are either in development or on the market:
Known wearables company Jawbone—who currently offers wrist fitness trackers known as Jawbone Up—has announced that it is developing an ingestible fitness tracker. Using specially designed sensors, the goal would be to collect a range of details and indicators measuring the efficiency and health of various body parts.
The PillCam was invented by Israeli company Given Image as a way to collect high speed images from the inner works of the human body. Much more convenient and less invasive than a colonoscopy—and a fraction of the cost—it’s been in regular use at medical facilities and hospitals for some time now, proving that ingestible tech can have real world applications.
For professional athletes and at-risk medical patients, CoreTemp is a wearable that vastly improves what a regular thermometer can do. It provides an accurate and live reading feedback, with continuous updates on body temperature. It monitors a patient for up to 36 hours before it’s “passed” though the other end.
The Proteus Ingestible Sensor has already been approved by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States. This tiny device is embedded into pills and thus it can track when a pill or medication has been taken. It then transmits this information to a small patch worn by the patient and uploads the findings to a smartphone app.