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Andrew Thompson, chief executive officer at US firm Proteus Digital Health which has developed the digital pill, said: "When you swallow one of our digital drugs it will say, 'Hello I'm here, I'm Novartis, I'm Diovan, 1.2mg, I'm from plant number 76, I'm batch number 12 and I'm pill number two.'"

He claims the invention could save the NHS millions of pounds in wasted medicines as well as help doctors ensure treatments are completed. It could also help families monitor elderly relatives who may get confused taking multiple pills.

Oxford University has also been involved in the pilot of the drug. Professor Lionel Tarassenko, from the Institute of Biomedical Engineering at the university, said he thought the pills didn't pose a huge threat to privacy.

He said: "Elderly people sometimes have to take six, seven, or eight pills a day.

"But if someone doesn't take their pills that can be a very, very serious thing. If you have an elderly parent who is not taking their pills, you might want to know."

He said he is hoping to start a UK trial next year using the texting pills with heart failure patients.