Would immediately — and significantly — improve my life.
Crossing my fingers very hard. Want this to be reality.
Introducing our smart contact lens project (for diabetics)
11–20 of 184 posts
Re: Introducing our smart contact lens project (for diabetics)
#12All my praise to these Google engineers and scientists. Another completely crazy idea that will really help millions of people every day. Thanks Google! We have discovered a lot of Google X technologies in the last months. It seems that Google X is really working. We may have to stop having fun of Google+.
You've discovered a lot of Google X technologies because it is a deliberate strategy by Google to publicize these projects regardless if they will ever reach a commercial stage.
They are attempting to stay relevant and perceived to be an innovative company in the eyes of their various stakeholders (employees, potential employees, shareholders, tech press, the general public, regulators, etc.) while transitioning to today's Microsoft.
Re: Introducing our smart contact lens project (for diabetics)
#13As a type 1 diabetic I can say this would be a huge improvement over current continuous glucose monitoring systems. No expensive disposable parts. No needing to inject a new sensor each week. No strange, uncomfortable, and (often) painful bulge stuck to your abdomen. >We’re in discussions with the FDA, but there’s still a lot more work to do to turn this technology into a system that people can use I'm chomping at th…
likely on the order of years
they have to prove that the monitoring it provides is accurate, measures what they think it does (I.e. no false positives or negatives), and doesn't v endanger the users lives (I.e. doesn't blind them I see the proposed led being an issue here since it can go off at night, and likely that it doesn't have a severe lag time that would reduce the likelihood of a life saving response because the user isn't checking blood sugar otherwise). I think all of these are definitely solvable issues so I would be surprised if it doesn't get anywhere. the specialized nature of the contact is likely not going to be an issue since the market is desperate for something better (every diabetic I know would switch to this in a blink). what I wonder is what the communication with the device is going to be like, smartphone would be nice but some of the smart watches I think would be better, and how is it powered too.
Re: Introducing our smart contact lens project (for diabetics)
#14How is this powered? are they generating electricity from the body somehow?
Re: Introducing our smart contact lens project (for diabetics)
#15Great. Now your are going to sign up with Google+ to blink.
Re: Introducing our smart contact lens project (for diabetics)
#16Microsoft was working on similar technology 3 years ago [1]
It looks like Google poached MSFT's engineers to work on this -- Babak Parviz was working on this at Microsoft 3 years ago, and is now cofounder of the smart contact lens team at Google.
[1]: Functional Contact Lens Monitors Blood Sugar Without Needles (http://research.microsoft.com/apps/video/dl.aspx?id=150832)
Re: Introducing our smart contact lens project (for diabetics)
#17As a type 1 diabetic I can say this would be a huge improvement over current continuous glucose monitoring systems. No expensive disposable parts. No needing to inject a new sensor each week. No strange, uncomfortable, and (often) painful bulge stuck to your abdomen. >We’re in discussions with the FDA, but there’s still a lot more work to do to turn this technology into a system that people can use I'm chomping at th…
How do you know it's not expensive or disposable?
I said expensive [AND] disposable parts, not OR.
I'm sure it will be expensive, but doubt it would need to be disposable: current CGMs rely on injecting a metal sensor into subcutaneous fat. After about a week your body starts to heal around it and the sensor becomes ineffective. Do to the nature of the application process, there is no way to re-inject a sensor once used. The sensors are on the order of $50 each, so $50/week.
Re: Introducing our smart contact lens project (for diabetics)
#18Continuous glucose monitors have been around for a while. I'm not sure who this would help.
The fundamental problem is that glucose levels in non-blood fluids do not exactly match blood glucose. The current monitor solutions use interstitial fluid in the skin. They still require the user to test themselves several times a day and recalibrate the monitor based on blood glucose, and they can't alert the user if their blood sugar is low until it's already a serious situation. They also frequently give false positives.
This is a new (but very clever!) way to do something that has been around for a while, not a revolution, unless tears track blood glucose much closer than interstitial fluid does. Simply based on first principles, that seems unlikely.
And there are basic hygiene problems wearing contacts while you're asleep, which is when monitoring would be most useful. If google has the technology to make contact lenses that you can wear 24*7 without getting ulcerative keratitis, that's more revolutionary than another way to monitor blood sugar.
Re: Introducing our smart contact lens project (for diabetics)
#19How is this powered? are they generating electricity from the body somehow?
Good question. Maybe from body heat. A polymer thermoelectric converter seems like it could be a good candidate.
Re: Introducing our smart contact lens project (for diabetics)
#20All my praise to these Google engineers and scientists. Another completely crazy idea that will really help millions of people every day. Thanks Google! We have discovered a lot of Google X technologies in the last months. It seems that Google X is really working. We may have to stop having fun of Google+.
You've discovered a lot of Google X technologies because it is a deliberate strategy by Google to publicize these projects regardless if they will ever reach a commercial stage. They are attempting to stay relevant and perceived to be an innovative company in the eyes of their various stakeholders (employees, potential employees, shareholders, tech press, the general public, regulators, etc.) while transitioning to t…
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