Google Contact Lenses Track Blood Sugar Levels

Tech giant Google announced that it has successfully developed a contact lens capable of measuring sugar levels from human tears.

Google's Blood Sugar-Measuring Contact Lenses

With this new technology, nearly 400 million people with diabetes worldwide will be able to measure their blood sugar levels through tears, much simpler than the current blood test method.

To do this, Google Glass uses a glucose sensor and a wireless transmitter. The prototype, announced on January 16, is exactly the same shape and size as a regular contact lens. However, inside the lens are tens of thousands of tiny semiconductor devices and an antenna as thin as a hair.

The world’s smallest glucose meter is a feat of engineering, said Brian Otis, a key member of the research team. It took years for experts and engineers to attach each hair-thin wire to the tiny electronic device, and they also had to hand-make each microchip.

Google experts have been developing this product for 18 months in the company's lab, but research on this invention began many years earlier at the University of Washington. However, Google said it will take at least 5 more years for this product to be completed and available to consumers. The company is currently looking for experienced partners to develop and market the product.

Google’s announcement is the latest step in the booming field of glucose monitoring devices, which have seen companies race to develop and introduce medical devices that make it easier to measure blood sugar levels.

According to Hanoi Moi