Six years ago, Claudia Mitchell suffered injuries in a motorcycle accident that led to the loss of her left arm. In 2006, through the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, she became the first female recipient of a $3 million robotic arm controlled by her own nervous system.

The “myolectric” prosthetic limb receives movement information from electrodes connected to Claudia’s existing nerves, which were routed by surgeons into positions on her chest. When those electrodes receive electrical signals from the brain, movement in the arm is triggered.

Remarkably, the prosthetic can be controlled in a fairly natural manner, allowing Claudia to perform simple tasks much in the same way she would with a real arm. It’s one of the first cases of nerve-rerouting surgery to enable control of a prosthetic via electrodes, whereas prosthetics in the past were controlled by muscle movement in the neighboring limbs.

The Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator (ICD) has become a go-to device for patients recovering from congestive heart failure, arrhythmia and related cardiovascular impairments. Implanted beneath the skin in a surgical procedure, the ICD monitors and occasionally corrects abnormal heart behavior.

Due to malfunctions in a number of their models, Guidant LLC–a leading manufacturer of ICD’s–began issuing recalls on some of its devices back in 2005. And now, after a series of investigations by the FDA, Guidant is facing nearly $300 million in fines due to their improper reporting of these malfunctions.

The corporation has been officially charged with withholding information from the FDA and making materially false statements about its products, and its plea agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice is still under review.

In addition to these charges by the FDA, several class action lawsuits have sprung up on behalf of individuals affected by malfunctioning devices, which were still being marketed at the time of recall.

According to recent PopSci article, researchers at The University of Florida have created a prototype pill that, when ingested, transmits data to medical personnel.

The prototype pills are standard white, with an antenna that is printed onto the surface…with silver nanoparticles. The capsule also contains a tiny microchip…. When the pill is taken, the microchip beams a signal to an external receiver…which in turn transmits a signal to a phone or computer that informs doctors or loved ones that the pill has been consumed. There is no battery on board the pill because it is powered by tiny bursts of low-voltage charge transmitted from the external device.

The antenna breaks down when introduced to the body’s natural processes, and the microchip passes safely through the digestive tract.

The development could end up a major healthcare breakthrough since, as reported by PopSci, mismanagement of prescription medications is responsible for over 200,000 patient deaths every year.