Google and Novartis
have recently announced their collaboration with an agreement to work
together on the further development of the smart
contact lens, which was unveiled by the research team, Google X, back in January.
The lens promises to analyze tear fluid in the
eye to provide constant measurements of a person’s blood glucose levels.
It does this by using non-invasive sensors. Once the measurements have
been made, they can then be sent wirelessly to a mobile device. This
would in turn assist diabetics in managing their disease more easily.
The technology has been licensed by Novartis
through their eye care subsidiary, Alcon.
They will look to developing the device into a commercial product.
Sergey Brin, Google’s co-founder, has said that
his company is “very excited to work with Novartis (on using) the latest
technology in the miniaturization of electronics to help improve the quality of
life for millions of people.”
Novartis is viewing this technology as having
more potential to also help “restore the eye’s natural autofocus.” It would do
this through more advanced applications such as implanting the lens directly
into the eye. So the far reaching applications of this technology could
go way beyond the prospective benefits for diabetes sufferers and into who
knows what.
The agreement made yesterday does not change the
fact that this is a long-term development project and so will obviously take a
long time to produce concrete results for the FDA. It does however mean
that Google’s glucose-tracking smart lens is now well on the way to being a
commercialized medical product.
As always, if you would like to leave a sensible
comment, then please do so in the comments section below.
SOURCE: http://mobile.theverge.com/2014/7/15/5900871/google-and-novartis-smart-contact-lens-partnership
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