General public is yet to get their hands on Google Glass and Google is already working towards its next bit of wearable gadget – Smart Contact Lenses that will enable those with diabetes to measure their glucose levels without having to go through the finger pricking routine.
Brian Otis and Babak Parviz, project co-founders at Google X, have explained their motivation behind developing smart contact lenses that help detect glucose levels. The duo explains that after many people they have talked to have equated managing their diabetes as having a part time job. People do go about monitoring their Glucose levels using monitors and sensors; however, “all people with diabetes must still prick their finger and test drops of blood throughout the day.”
“It’s disruptive, and it’s painful”, they added.
Scientists have been investigating on the use of various body fluids including tears to measure Glucose levels in a bid to do away with the collection of blood and making it easier for people to track their Glucose levels. But, tears are hard to collect and study.
“At Google[x], we wondered if miniaturized electronics—think: chips and sensors so small they look like bits of glitter, and an antenna thinner than a human hair—might be a way to crack the mystery of tear glucose and measure it with greater accuracy”, added Otis and Parviz.
Prototypes ready
Smart contact lens is not just a concept on paper and the folks over at Google X have already managed to create prototypes and are testing them. The idea is to collect the tears and measure Glucose levels, which are known to fluctuate even with normal activities like eating, exercising or sweating.
Knowing that these change in levels may sometimes be dangerous, the smart contact lens is being studied as a “potential for this to serve as an early warning for the wearer.”
Google X seeking partners
Otis and Parviz have revealed that they are already seeking partners for their programme and are already in discussions with the FDA. The smart contact lens team wants its partners to use the technology and develop apps that would make the measurements available to both the wearer and their doctors.
“We’ve always said that we’d seek out projects that seem a bit speculative or strange, and 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”, the duo added.
