Technology
Google Unveils Contact Lens Designed to Help Diabetics Monitor Their Glucose Levels
Google announced a smart contact lens on its blog that acts as a non-invasive glucose monitor to help diabetics measure their glucose levels in tears. The project is being developed and tested at Google X, the laboratory that has also incubated projects such as Google’s self-driving car and Google Glass.
The device, which looks like a typical contact lens, contains a wireless microscopic chip and miniaturized glucose sensor. These chips are embedded between two layers of soft contact lens material.
The embedded electronics in the lens do not obscure vision because they lay outside the pupil and iris.
Google says it is working on adding tiny LED lights to the lens to warn the wearer when their glucose levels reach certain thresholds. The sensors are so small that they “look like bits of glitter”.
The tech giant also says it is working with the FDA to turn these prototypes into real products and that it is looking with experts to bring this technology to market. These partners, the company says, “will use our technology for a smart contact lens and develop apps that would make the measurements available to the wearer and their doctor”.
Source: Mashable, TechCrunch