The folded pharmaceutical package, or Electronic Compliance Packaging (ECP), is fitted with a circuit card that is printed onto the paperboard.
When the patient takes a pill, the built-in microchip in the circuit card records the exact time, as the blister packaging is broken.
The patient can also answer questions regarding the medication by pressing one of the printed buttons on the package, which also records data to the microchip.
Cypak marketing director and co-founder Stina Ehrensvrd said information could then be retrieved from the packaging and stored by placing the package onto a Cypak ECP scanner connected to a PC. The package then starts the web browser, which connects to a programmed web page. Information is transferred via an encrypted verification and data exchange.
We tried other boards but Iggesund was the best as it did not crack when folded, allowing transmission of information to the circuit card, said Ehrensvrd.
Cypak, which won the Grand Prize for best European innovation in information technology in 1999, is currently working on a trial project with the Swedish Health Association.
Story by Andy Scott
