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Glucose Sensing Contact Lenses – Google[x]’s Ambitious Venture into Diabetes
Today, Google announced that it is working to develop a contact lens that could non-invasively monitor glucose levels from tears. The smart contact lens team at Google has put together the existing electrochemical technology of a continuous glucose monitor (CGM), a soft contact lens, a chip (about the size of a piece of glitter), and an antenna. Google is now testing prototypes that can generate a reading once per second and would, as planned, not need calibration. Though the device is in its early days and not close to coming to market, some clinical trials have been done, and the team has recently spoken with the FDA. The smart contact lens project clearly falls alongside other hugely ambitious projects that the company’s top-secret research arm, Google[x], is working on: a self-driving car, balloon-powered Internet, Google Glass, and affordable wind power. The smart contact lens is the fifth Google[x] project ever – with the x indicating that Google believes the technology could be ten times better than what is currently available, as we understand it. Wow! What a statement.
Monitoring glucose non-invasively is obviously not new in diabetes. A number of companies over theyears have tried similar projects – C8 MediSensors, FoviOptics, SpectRX – though none has succeeded. To be sure, FoviOptics was run by two particularly smart and well-respected leaders, but after Mr. Lortz and Mr. Liamos exited the field, there has been little hope that a non-invasive monitor could be developed or commercialized. Specifically, to date, isolating glucose molecules with sensors has been impossible to do in either a practical or affordable way. Dr. Brian Otis, the project co-leader (along with Babak Parviz), explained some of the specific barriers to monitoring glucose in tears. First, glucose levels in tears are five to ten times lower than concentrations found in blood, making detection difficult. Second, methods that involve collecting tears often contain artifacts from using capillaries. There are also concerns that contact lenses could be uncomfortable or difficult to wear. Historically, continuous glucose sensor development has had to balance many other factors: the size of electronics, power/battery constraints, the need for an antenna to send the information to a receiver, on-body comfort, and more.
On an inspiring note, given Google’s resources to move the field of diabetes forward, the Google[x] team made it clear it is by no means planning to do this project alone. The company is looking to partner with other companies and people who have experience bringing medical technologies to the market. The hope is for others to use the smart contact lens technology and develop apps that would make measurements available to patients (e.g., on a smartphone or a receiver) and to their doctors (e.g., in an electronic health record). One major question is how to produce this device at a reasonable cost, since the lenses would not last forever; we do think Google could subsidize continued R&D in a significant way should companies decide they would like to pursue this.
To be sure, the talent at Google is renowned - Dr. Otis has a killer bio (for example, he used to run a chip design research lab and has worked at Intel Corp. and Agilent Technologies) and we found him at once humble as well as inspiring in our interview. As we understand it, Google has also been quietly building its internal team with smart hires, with “not just process engineers, but research chemists.”
Big picture, a non-invasive method of measuring glucose has the potential to improve the ease and frequency of monitoring, avoid the use of needles, and harness technology to improve the lives of people with diabetes. Although the device is still very much a prototype in its early stages, we feel confident that Google could drive forward many other initiatives in diabetes. With the company’s massive reach, we are very excited about the ability it has to bolster what the diabetes ecosystem can achieve for patients.
Google’s move into healthcare is a major statement by the technology giant; notably, diabetes is its first healthcare focus with this fifth moonshot! We cannot wait to watch more and learn. In the meantime, we hope the diabetes field will look to share its brainpower with Google… sometimes one plus one is not only not two – it could be ten! -KC/AB/NL