As the printed electronics industry continues to grow, so do their potential applications. In recent years, printed electronics have begun to quickly find their niche into pharmaceutical applications and the medical industry. Pharmaceutical is defined as applications relating to medicinal drugs, their preparation, use, or sale. Printed electronics can be used to help monitor dosage, temperature, tamper detection, manufacturing and more.
How often do you find yourself questioning whether you took your medication? And if you did, what time did you take it? When can you take it again? These are all extremely common questions, but there’s never been a simple answer… Until now. By incorporating printed antennas into the design of medication blister packs, users can be directly alerted of when they took their medication, how many pills they took, the time they took them, and so on. It works because as the seal of the printed antenna breaks, it alerts the user that a pill has been popped out of the packaging of the blister pack.
Not only does this make things easier on the patient, but it also can make things easier on caretakers and nurses. For older generations, many take several different pills at once. Because of this, it’s easy to lose track of the medications you’ve taken vs. haven’t taken. As a caretaker, you could track how many pills have been taken out of the medication blister packs, at what time, etc. This will help to make sure patients aren’t forgetting, or overtaking, their medications.
All of the information from these printed electronics can be relayed to a smart device, such as an app on your cellphone or computer, via Bluetooth. This helps to make pill consumption easily trackable, both for the patient and the caretaker, if needed.
Printed antennas can also be incorporated into the packaging of drugs and medications to track whether they’ve been tampered with. This is simply through the use of an RFID or NFC tag. The tag would be placed over the seal of the packaging, and if the seal were to be broken, you’d know the medication was tampered with. This could be extremely beneficial as well in order to prevent drug counterfeiting.
Force Sensing Resistors could be used to help track dosages and the number of pills you have. This could be extremely important, as it could help to alert users whether they’ve taken their medication for the day. It also could alert them to how many doses they have left prior to needing a refill.
When it comes to medication storage, temperature is important. Most medications need to be stored at 55-79°F, and in a cool, dry environment. Drugs and pharmaceuticals have a certain chemical makeup, and when the chemicals and components are exposed to different temperatures, the makeup can change.
However, by incorporating a temperature sensor onto the containers that the medication is placed into, you can monitor temperature levels throughout the day. This will help to ensure the medication works as it should for the patients.
With IoT technology, getting your prescriptions refilled can be easier than ever before. Consider a future where you can get your prescription refilled through a smart device such as your Google Home or your Amazon Alexa. You would put your prescription’s information into the smart device, and the smart device would handle the rest.
The truth is, that future is now. Your smart device would alert you at whatever designated times you specified about ordering your prescription refill. It would sound something like, “Good morning. Your prescription for ____ is due to be filled. Would you like me to call it in for you?”.
Not only could your smart device alert you of prescription refills, but it could also alert you to take your pills daily. Just inform your smart device of what pills you take and at what times of the day, and let it handle the rest. The reminders could be extremely beneficial to individuals who tend to forget things, as it would help to keep them on track with their daily medications.
When it comes to printed electronics, there are many potential pharmaceutical applications just waiting to be discovered. If you have a unique application or are looking to get your next project started, reach out. Our team will be happy to help!
Jaclyn is a Digital Marketing Specialist on the BTI Team. She serves as the Content Manager, where she primarily manages social media channels, SEO, Public Relations, and website development. To get to know more about Jaclyn, check her out on LinkedIn!