Wired reports on a pill that “will determine how healthy or ill the patient is, and will release just the right amount of medicine accordingly” !

Dubbed the Intelligent Pill or iPill, the new drug-delivery system packs a micropump and sensors that monitor the body’s temperature and pH balance into one pill. If the body’s temperature and pH reach certain levels, the iPill responds by pumping out more or less of its drug payload. It could be used to treat many ailments like AIDS or diabetes.

The device also can be programmed to release drugs at various intervals. This could be particularly useful in treating diseases such as cancer or AIDS, where cocktails of many different medications may be required at constant intervals. Instead of taking many pills at different times, with the iPill you could adjust its timer and swallow them all at once and get the right doses at the right times.

The technology is currently being tested, and it may be a couple of years before the pill is approved for human consumption.

And, I cannot help but wonder if this is the feeling people would have had when they first heard about the idea of an airplane ! What will they think of next?!