Smart pill launched to spot heat illness

ATHLETES at Tokyo 2020 have been swallowing an electronic pill that measures their body temperature as part of a groundbreaking experiment.

Scientists monitored competitors’ vital signs in real time to test technology designed to protect them from heat exhaustion.

It focused on long-distance running events with a view to using the technology in other sports in the future. Britain’s Jessica Judd showed the risks of competing in extreme heat when she collapsed yesterday at the end of the gruelling 10,000m.

‘It’s just the first step but it can become a significant development for real-time monitoring,’ Sebastien Racinais, the scientist who chaired the project, told The Mail on Sunday.

The pill works by transmitting information through radio waves to a smart wristband worn by the athlete. The wristband then sends the data to the scientists.