A Google contact lens that monitors glucose levels
Monday, February 10 2014 | 00 h 00 min | News
Google is developing a “smart” contact lens, able to measure the glucose levels in the tears of patients with diabetes.
The prototype uses a tiny wireless chip and miniaturized glucose sensor embedded between two layers of soft contact lens material. It is able to produce one reading per second and could incorporate miniature LED lights to warn the wearer when glucose levels are getting out of control.
“It’s still early days for this technology,” said Brian Otis and Babak Parviz, project co-founders. “But we’ve completed multiple clinical research studies which are helping to refine our prototype. We hope this could someday lead to a new way for people with diabetes to manage their disease.”
There is still a lot of work to be done before this technology is useable. “We’re not going to do this alone: we plan to look for partners who are experts in bringing products like this to market,” commented the researchers. “At a time when the International Diabetes Federation is declaring that the world is ‘losing the battle’ against diabetes, we thought this project was worth a shot.”
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