Drugs just where you need them with the iPill

Suffering from a dodgy stomach? Philips has come up with a high-tech pill that will make sure the right dose of drugs is delivered right to the heart – or the guts – of your problem.

Here's the pill in question, known as the iPill – a 11 x 26 mm capsule designed to deliver its load only when it reaches the right area of the intestines.

How does it know how far along the digestive tract it is? By analysing the body's pH level as it travels. According to Philips, the body's "pH rises sharply upon exiting the stomach and becomes progressively alkaline from the upper intestine onwards".

The iPill can take the acidity information and combine it with data on how long it has spent in the body to decide the appropriate time to deliver the drug load it's carrying.

The iPill's cleverness doesn't stop there, however.

Photo credit: Philips