A new set of contact lenses from Google will measure the level of glucose in diabetics’ tears.
Google are currently developing this latest technological advancement, and if they successfully patent the creation then they will help to eliminate a painful daily part of diabetics’ routines.
Individuals who suffer from diabetes have to monitor their glucose levels by pricking themselves in order to swab their blood onto a test stripe, which they then feed into an electronic reader.
Google’s new contact lenses would erase this toil from their lives. This is because they are fitted with minuscule wireless chips and sensors that have been wedged between the two lenses.
Discussing the project’s benefits, its co-founders, Brian Otis and Babak Parviz, stated, “Although some people wear glucose monitors with a glucose sensor embedded under their skin, all people with diabetes must still prick their finger and test drops of blood throughout the day. It’s disruptive, and it’s painful. And as a result, many people with diabetes check their blood glucose less often than they should.”
This device actually measures blood sugar levels every single second. It does this by examining the recipients’ tears. Google also want to put LED lights inside the lenses too, which would flash up when these levels are either too high or too low.
The measurements for the electronics inside the lens are staggering. Both the sensors and chips are the size of a fleck of glitter, while its wireless antenna is thinner than the length of a human hair.
Google are also in the process of safeguarding their creation from various problems such as overheating. They have been combating this issue thus far by including a circuit breaker.
Google are currently running clinical research studies on the device, while they are also testing it profusely too. Despite the fact that it isn’t ready for mass production just yet, they have begun discussions with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration over its distribution.
Questions have arisen though over what Google will do with the information that it gathers. Joseph Lorenzo Hall, the chief technologist at the Centre for Democracy and Technology, confirmed that Google have assured him that the data won’t be added to the company’s huge collection of personal information that it already possesses.
He explained, “The data will never hit Google’s servers. That’s a forward-thinking affirmative claim that they’re making. That is important.”
The US National Diabetes Educational Program estimates that around 382 million people suffer from diabetes.
[Image via Annotee /Shutterstock]
