In Israel a new medical technology has been developed that may revolutionize the way we take medicines in the future. While it is still in clinical trials, the possibilities look promising and could be on the market for general use in about three years.

Dubbed “Cybertooth,” it is a method by which medicines can be dispensed to chronically ill patients who are required to take pills or injections on a daily basis. This new techique will be a great aid to the elderly and those with memory problems who have difficulty in remembering to take their life saving drugs. The medications can also be administered at night during normal sleeping so that the person need not be awaken.

“The device is going to be crucial, first of all for patients who have disabilities in remembering — like Alzheimer’s patients,” said Ben Z. Beiski, one of the developers, at Assuta Medical Centre in Tel Aviv.

“Rather than having a nurse running up to them and reminding them to take the pill, we have a device that will do it automatically,” he said.

“The software [is] programmed to deliver the drug at any time that you like.”

In a routine dental procedure the medication delivery device is attached like a crown to a tooth, or it can be surgically implanted in the mouth. Then the device can be programmed to administer the right medicines in the proper dosages at the appropriate time without any other intervention on the part of the person needing the drugs. For medical purposes it can also have important medical information programmed into it, such as the person’s allergy information, medical history and so on, which then can be downloaded into a hospital or emergency room computer. This would be especially helpful when a person is brought into the ER with no identification or who cannot give the staff information about their medical history.

When the time comes to administer the medicine, a panel on the device opens and releases the programmed dosage into the back of the patient’s mouth, where it would mix with saliva and enter the bloodstream.

Not For Everyone

As in any procedure or device that is foreign to the human body complications can arise. The body could reject the device. Since it is in the mouth, a place already loaded with millions of micro-organisms, infection at the implanted site is possible. While these first two limitations are not statistcally of high concern, the fact that many drugs are not compatible for this type of administration is a major concern that developers of the technology must overcome before this becomes a normal method of medicine administration.

Also, if the meds need to be absorbed for a quick biological response this is not the method of choice as the device is geared for slow body absorption of the drugs over time.

“A slow-release system is a good thing,” said Hebrew University professor Yoram Altschuler, an expert in pharmacology and oral drug delivery systems. “But some medicines cannot be packaged or formulated chemically for slow-release.”

The major upside, besides helping those with memory problems keep their meds coming on time, is its delivery capacity. This new device can store up to several weeks of doses for most drugs and administer more than one type of medicine at any given time. It also has a built in alarm system that will transmit a “Getting Low on Meds” message to a remote receiver.

Beiski also addressed concerns about what would occur if the device somehow broke free and was swallowed. “We decided to put the drug itself in a sort of protective matrix, so even if [it] is swallowed once, the drug will be released at a slow rate, [so as] not [to] be dangerous for the patient,” Beiski said. The only concern not addressed is the possiblity of someone choking on the device should it break free and get lodged in the windpipe or lungs instead of being swallowed into the digestive track.

[Journalist Corinne Heller contributed to this article]