ISRAEL: Two Israelis develop a device to replace traditional medicine supply by installing a smart, medicine injecting tooth into patient's mouth

Record ID: 396378

  • Title: ISRAEL: Two Israelis develop a device to replace traditional medicine supply by installing a smart, medicine injecting tooth into patient's mouth
  • Date: 21st April 2007
  • Summary: G(L!WE) TEL AVIV, ISRAEL (RECENT) (REUTERS) DR. ANDY WOLFF, DENTIST AND EXPERT IN ORAL MEDICINE WHO IS ONE OF THE INVENTORS AND DEVELOPERS OF THE CYBERTOOTH, WATCHING A PRESENTATION OF THE DEVICE
  • Embargoed: 6th May 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: Health,Science / Technology
  • Reuters ID: LVA9LF180IDZIVTUI9V39LTKVG2
  • Story Text: A "cybertooth" that dispenses medicine to chronically ill patients may replace pills and injections for those who have a hard time remembering to take their medication, according to researchers.
    The European Union is funding the Intellidrug project to develop a cybernetic oral device that attaches to a tooth and administers a dosage programmed by a patient's doctor.
    "The product works by controlling, using a tiny micro processor and a software, by controlling the delivery of the drug itself at exactly the time that you want it and the quantity that you want it. By doing so we can leave the problem of forgetting taking the pills and leave the problem of taking it the time that you are asleep," said Ben Zion 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.
    Beiski said the method would also be ideal for people who take medication to treat asthma attacks, especially those who suffer from them during the night.
    A doctor would also program into a remote control information such as when the drug should be administered, and the patient's age, weight and medical history.
    The device can be fixed in a patient's mouth, either as an attachment, or type of crown, to a tooth or as an implant.
    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.
    The device can contain up to several weeks of doses of most drugs and administer more than one type of medicine, Beiski said.
    It transmits to a remote receiver information on when it is about to go empty and needs to be replaced.
    Beiski said he and colleague Andy Wolff, a dentist and expert in oral medicine, are planning to conduct clinical trials, along with scientists in Europe, in three months. They hope to market the device within three years, he said.
    But the method has several disadvantages. Any foreign object placed inside the body could be prone to infection. Also, some drugs are incompatible with the device.
    The oral device joins other medical methods of "slow-release", such as some capsules and injections, which release chemicals slowly to minimise side-effects.
    But some medicines cannot be packaged or formulated chemically for slow-release, and some will require further development in order to adjust them to the new technique.
    "A medicine like Insulin requires further development, medicines for heart attacks are medicines which already today can be absorbed through the mouth's mucous membrane. Some medicine exist and some requires further development," said Prof. Yair Shapira, manager of Assute Tel Aviv hospital.
    In recent months tests conducted on pigs proved successful. High levels of the drugs that were given were found in their blood and the medicine was distributed evenly, Beiski said, but until the device is trialed on humans and approved for massive use, people will continue shopping for pills.
    A quirky story.
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