Google creates glucose monitor in contact lens

[kristopher]

Google creates glucose monitor in contact lens
AP
JAN 17, 2014



MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA – Google on Thursday unveiled a contact lens that monitors glucose levels in tears, a potential reprieve for millions of diabetics who have to draw their own blood as many as 10 times a day.

The prototype, which Google says will take at least five years to reach consumers, is one of several medical devices being designed by companies to make glucose monitoring for diabetic patients more convenient and less invasive than the traditional finger pricks.

The lenses use a minuscule glucose sensor and a wireless transmitter to help those among the world’s 382 million diabetics who need insulin keep a close watch on their blood sugar and adjust their dose.

The contact lenses were developed during the past 18 months in the clandestine Google X lab, which also came up with a driverless car, Google’s Web-surfing eyeglasses and Project Loon, a network of large balloons designed to beam the Internet to unwired places.

But research on the contact lenses began several years earlier at the University of Washington, where scientists worked under National Science Foundation funding...

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/01/17/world/google-creates-glucose-monitor-in-contact-lens/#.UtnwfHn0Ay4

[BlueStreak]

1. Did anybody bother to find out that most elderly people can't tolerate contact lenses

because tear production decreases with age?

I'm sure somebody will come up with a good technology here, but this probably isn't it.

About 10 years ago, there was a company that was "really close" to perfecting a device that could see through the skin and read the glucose levels optically without having to draw any blood. It looks like such a product was recently approved for use in Europe.

http://www.medgadget.com/2012/10/c8-non-invasive-optical-glucose-monitor-system-cleared-for-sale-in-europe-video.html

But then the company seems to have vanished.
http://www.everydayupsanddowns.co.uk/2013/06/has-light-gone-out-on-c8-medisensors.html

Some people are saying (are you listening Faux News?) that maybe one of the big companies bought them out to kill the technology because selling test strips is so lucrative. I'd hate to think that is the case. There certainly is plenty of precedent where corporations have acted opposite the best interests of humanity because it was more profitable that way.

[kristopher]

2. You think only "the elderly" have diabetes?

[BlueStreak]

4. That is the majority

[Travis_0004]

5. So is your solution to do nothing?

I think this will help a lot of people, and that is a good thing, even if there are a lot of people that it will not help. Even if lack of tears wasn't a problem, some older people may lack the dexterity to put in contracts, and maybe this isn't a solution for them, but its certainly a solution for some people.

I wonder how much this cost. With the short life of disposable lenses, hopefully the extra cost per lens is low. Of course, they could always install this on hard/gp contacts, and not soft contacts.

[BlueStreak]

6. If it works for some people, fine

It just seems to be overly hyped, as is the case for just about everything Google does these days.

We're going to have cars that need no drivers by 2020, No.

Everybody is going to love these Google glasses. No.

etc.

I think there are better ways to go about this that will work for more people, I hate to see Google crowd out innovation. Besides, you know what their next move will be. They will give these contacts away for free, but you will "occasionally" see some ads pop up on your contact lenses.

"Blood sugar getting a little low? Wouldn't a Snickers bar taste great right about now?"

No, thank you.

[sir pball]

8. My old soft lenses had a 1-year lifespan

Come to think of it my Synergeyes (RGP with a soft skirt to help them stay comfortable and put), from three years ago, were rated 6 months but the dr. recommended a year. I know that non-permeable soft lenses are falling out of favor but given the potential benefits of this tech, I could see them coming back.

[mathematic]

10. You are misreading that chart. Most diabetics are under 65.

That's a chart of what % of the age group has diabetes.

20 or older: 25.6 million
65 or older: 10.9 million

A little subtraction tells us
20-65: 14.7 million

http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/pubs/estimates11.htm

[BlueStreak]

11. You are stretching the point beyong it's limits.

The statistics are maintained 65-and-older and 20-65. That 20-65 group is a HUGE range. It appears that the majority of diabetes sufferers are over age 60. If you don't want to call 60 years "senior" that's up to you, but 60-year-olds get senior discounts at most restaurants I go to.

And what is completely undeniable is that the rate of diabetes in seniors is much higher than in younger people -- about 4 times the rate that 20-years-olds have.

I certainly stipulate that diabetes is a concern for young people, especially with all the obesity we are seeing, but to suggest it isn't primarily a disease that falls upon the older population is just not right.

[mathematic]

12. I guess "You're right, let me fix my post" is a bridge too far.

God I hate the internet.

[CFLDem]

3. I think it's pretty good start

to technology that will one days motor all sorts of health conditions in addition to augmented reality.

An it's certainly a larger predecessor to sensors they could design for those of an advanced age.

[kristopher]

7. Some details from the Washington Post

The soft contact lens that Google is unveiling — it’s still a prototype — houses a sensor that measures the glucose levels in tears. A tiny pinhole in the lens lets tear fluid seep over the glucose monitor to get regular readings. Right now, the company said, it can get a level reading once every second. The lens also features a tiny antenna, capacitor and controller so that the information gathered from the lens can move from the eye to a device — such as a handheld monitor — where that data can be read and analyzed. It will draw its power from that device and communicate with it using a wireless technology known as RFID.

Given the sensitive nature of the data, Hall said, Google has also said it will make sure any data transferred from the lens cannot be manipulated — something that could have potentially fatal consequences if patients inject the wrong amount of insulin. Google has also worked to build in safeguards against other kinds of problems, such as a piece that is similar to a circuit breaker to prevent the lens from overheating.

The National Diabetes Education Program estimates that 382 million people worldwide and 25.8 million Americans have diabetes. That means that every day — multiple times a day — more than 8 percent of people in this country must take time out to prick themselves to test their blood levels.

“It’s disruptive, and it’s painful,” Google project co-founders Brian Otis and Babak Parviz said in the blog post. “And, as a result, many people with diabetes check their blood glucose less often than they should.”

Physicians and medical researchers have thought about ways to measure glucose through the fluid in the eye for years, but have had trouble figuring out how best to capture and analyze those tears. Some companies, such as EyeSense, have developed their own products to embed sensors in the eye to measure these levels, while other companies, such as Freedom Meditech, have explored measuring glucose levels through the eye by using light.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/googles-smart-contact-lens-what-it-does-and-how-it-works/2014/01/17/96b938ec-7f80-11e3-93c1-0e888170b723_story.html