By Deborah Borfitz 

March 3, 2026 | Medication nonadherence is a major, longstanding problem in healthcare, with the World Health Organization estimating 50% of patients with chronic diseases are not taking their drugs as prescribed. But MIT engineers are working to solve the problem with an ingestible and bioresorbable RFID-based sensor system, dubbed SAFARI, designed to safely and accurately monitor medication ingestion, reports Mehmet Say, Ph.D., an electrical engineer and research scientist involved in the work and now headed to Chalmers University (Sweden). 

The platform incorporates a novel cellulose–metal particle–based radiofrequency shielding layer to create a “Faraday cage” enabling reliable signal detection, as described in a proof-of-concept study in swine that was published recently in Nature Communications (DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-67551-5). SAFARI employs fully biodegradable materials to eliminate the need to retrieve the device or replace the battery, thereby reducing electronic waste. 

Say’s supervisor and the study’s senior author is Giovanni Traverso, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of mechanical engineering at MIT, a gastroenterologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and cofounder of Syntis Bio. His lab has been working on a separate adherence strategy involving medication delivery capsules that stay in the gastrointestinal tract (GI) for days or weeks, releasing doses at predetermined times.  

Peter Chai, M.D., an emergency medicine physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and another study co-author, has been leading efforts toward future clinical trials testing this sort of technology with targeted patient groups such as HIV and tuberculosis patients, according to Say. Patient-centered use cases will require a wearable RFID receiver antenna, possibly housed in a necklace, which can pick up the electromagnetic signals transmitted by the ingested, pill-sized device. 

The sensor data generated could be sent to a cloud system and transmitted to patients’ healthcare team, he adds. When noncompliance is discovered, confidential conversations might then ensue between doctors and their patients to remedy the situation. 

SAFARI incorporates two device technologies, one of which is the black Faraday cage coating comprised of cellulose and either molybdenum or tungsten, which blocks any RF signal from being emitted until the device capsule is swallowed. At that point, the coating breaks down, releasing the drug along with the bioresorbable antenna on the RFID reader. 

The second innovation is the bioresorbable RFID tag housing a microchip that generates the signal indicating patients have taken their pill, says Say. It can be easily sized to integrate into standard-sized gelatin or hydroxypropyl methylcellulose capsule. 

The communication process, confirming the capsule has been swallowed, happens within 10 minutes of an individual ingesting the pill, Say says. The trace metals (zinc and molybdenum) used for the antenna and shielding are both essential micronutrients and short-term analysis in the latest study found that their levels fell within ranges regarded as safe by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and were eliminated from the body over several days. The off-the-shelf RF chip, which is not biodegradable, needs to be excreted through the digestive tract.  

Multifaceted Problem 

In addition to healthcare impacts, the medication nonadherence problem has devastating economic consequences, points out Say. It has been estimated to cost the U.S. healthcare system more than $500 billion annually in avoidable expenses (The Annals of Pharmacotherapy, DOI: 10.1177/1060028018765159). 

One difficulty in arriving at a solution is the multifaceted nature of the issue. Where SAFARI could potentially play a role is in providing actionable data to providers to personalize care of patients who are more apt to not take their medications due to factors such as forgetfulness, fear of side effects, or not understanding the necessity of taking their drugs as prescribed. 

Identifying the target group is critical to moving the needle, stresses Say, as the problem disproportionately affects people dealing with long-term chronic conditions, including hypertension and diabetes. But even among people prescribed antibiotics for an acute infection, multiple studies have reported surprisingly high nonadherence rates of between 30% and 50%, contributing to the rise of antibiotic-resistant superbugs. Nonadherence in clinical trials is also notoriously problematic. 

Some commercial devices employing a wearable RFID receiver antenna already exist and are widely used for applications ranging from inventory management and secure access control to medical monitoring. They come in the form of wristbands, vests, and necklaces. SAFARI represents one of the first demonstrated uses of such sensor systems for medication adherence that could easily be implemented via a wearable antenna, Say notes. 

The latest proof-of-concept study used an antenna located about 20 centimeters (roughly eight inches) from the swine stomach, he says. MIT has the engineering knowhow for pivoting to a wearable device, potentially a large but comfortably designed necklace.    

One of the biggest design problems with most other medication capsules featuring embedded sensors is that they use non-degradable polymers and rigid electronic components that get excreted from the body intact, says Say. This both raises the risk of GI injury and poses a significant environmental challenge.   

To date, only a few bioresorbable technologies have utilized materials that will biodegrade, and that the FDA designates as Generally Recognized as Safe, continues Says. Fewer still have tested ingestible capsules in large animal models. The milestone here is that researchers made a device that is both harmless and could benefit patients. 

Biodegradable Battery 

Next steps with SAFARI include solving the range issue to generate a more reliable and powerful signal, Say shares. This will be accomplished with a tiny, purpose-built biodegradable battery. A paper expected to be published in a few months will demonstrate this enhanced capability.  

The biodegradable battery is being built from scratch, leveraging proven applications with cardiac pacemakers, he says. The battery has been under development in the Traverso lab over the past two years to ensure it is stable enough to withstand the harsh environment of the GI tract and will safely degrade over time.  

In addition to the clinical studies planned by Chai, the research team is pursuing grant funding for other trials with collaborators at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. They also still need to demonstrate that there will be no unwanted effects of the biodegradable device over months versus days of use and in multiple swine models.