For over a year now we’ve been hearing about updates for Google’s tech spectacles, Glass. But Google has been secretly working on a way to get even closer to your eyeballs. The smart contact lense.
Google revealed in a blog post yesterday how its “smart contact lens” help to measure glucose levels in tears. This, unlike Google Glass, is not another way to consume TV shows or check your social networks. These contact lenses are designed directly for those who suffer from Diabetes.
Currently diabetes sufferers must test their blood sugar every few hours. According to the International Diabetes Federation the world is “losing the battle” against diabetes, and one in ten will suffer from the condition by 2035.
Google’s contact lense uses a tiny wireless microship with a “miniaturised” glucose sensor to measure glucose levels through the users tears.
The blogpost said, “We’re now testing a smart contact lens that’s built to measure glucose levels in tears using a tiny wireless chip and miniaturized glucose sensor that are embedded between two layers of soft contact lens material. We’re testing prototypes that can generate a reading once per second.”
“We’re also investigating the potential for this to serve as an early warning for the wearer, so we’re exploring integrating tiny LED lights that could light up to indicate that glucose levels have crossed above or below certain thresholds.”
Google admits it is still early days for the technology, and concedes there are still months and probably years of clinical research involved before it has a working prototype.
“We’re not going to do this alone: we plan to look for partners who are experts in bringing products like this to market.”
Good work, Google. And there was us thinking you were Skynet incarnate!
by jamesp via Featured Articles
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