One of the major reasons the treatment of certain illnesses goes wrong is because people forget to take their daily tablets. 

According to the World Health Organisation, about half of patients with chronic diseases are guilty of this.

A US company has come up with a way to help prevent that from happening. Proteus Digital has developed a tiny device the size of a grain of sand that sends out a signal when ingested.

The minuscule sensor can be attached to medication, and will transmit a signal to a patch worn by the patient.

The patch then records the dates and times of ingestion, meaning that neither patients nor doctors will have to rely on the person’s recollections.

Preliminary studies show improvements in the health of those with diabetes, high cholesterol and hypertension.

This is the latest in a series of devices developed by companies worldwide to simplify healthcare.