Google’s Contact Lenses For Diabetics Could Alleviate A Very Painful Daily Routine


GoogleXLast Thursday, the folks at Google announced plans to design contact lenses for a very particular crowd, diabetics. A not-so secretive division of Google, called Google-X, has been testing the notion of "smart contact lens" and the type of help they could give to patients. This is the same group of engineers who worked on producing the very distinctive driverless car, as well as the almighty Google Glass. Google’s next idea is to help people better manage diabetes by measuring blood glucose levels through tears. If successful, diabetes sufferers would be updated by-the-moment without the ache of 'the pricking of the finger'. Although half a decade in the making, there are very few details about where the technology stands with the FDA. This is what they hope to change.

GoogleX2Why the eye? The advantage stands because the eye is an exposed organ, capable of revealing very high levels of drugs, data, and other information. For example, other experiments with contact lenses are being tested on patients with glaucoma. These would slowly release necessary medications, and send data from the fluid of the eye, using a microprocessor, and wireless transmitter. A company, called Sensimed, is working with Google to produce “smart contacts” with the ability to gather such data.

GoogleX1The contacts contain wireless chips and tiny glucose sensors. They are capable of measuring blood sugar levels once-per-second. All sandwiched between two soft layers of lens material, tens of thousands of miniaturized transistors sit, which are thinner than a strand of human hair. No pricking, no swabbing blood onto test strips, and no hand-held electronic readers. Best of all, Google's intention is to use LED lights as the warning sign when levels are too high or too low. When a warning is approaching, all the wearer would see is a "flash of glitter". The Google-X unit is used to test risky technology; technology which may never become commercial, yet has the potential to truly help people. Google says they will continue their efforts with the FDA so these prototypes could be widely used and doctor approved. Google has the research and technology. Now it's time to find the right partners.

Topics: Technology News Inventions & Innovations Mini / Nano PCs

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