smartcontacts1.jpgGoogle is going to start making smart contact lenses. Unfortunately, it's not the contact lens version of Google Glass. Instead, it will be for monitoring health. 

People with diabetes have to monitor their blood-glucose levels or they risk major problems. Could there be a better way to measure blood-glucose levels instead of pricking your finger all the time?

Scientists have been investigating different ways to monitor glucose besides using blood, and one of the most promising targets is tears. That's great! We've got plenty of that too right? Except, tears aren't easy to collect.

Google X came up with the idea of a contact lens with embedded "chips ad sensors" so small they could help monitor blood-glucose. Here's what Google had to say about it:
"We're now testing a smart contact lens that's built to measure glucose levels in tears using a tiny wireless chip and miniaturized glucose sensor that are embedded between two layers of soft contact lens material. We're testing prototypes that can generate a reading once per second. We're also investigating the potential for this to serve as an early warning for the wearer, so we're exploring integrating tiny LED lights that could light up to indicate that glucose levels have crossed above or below certain thresholds. It's still early days for this technology, but we've completed multiple clinical research studies which are helping to refine our prototype. We hope this could someday lead to a new way for people with diabetes to manage their disease."
For now, this is still in the early stages of development, but Google is already in discussions with regulatory boards. They're planning to look for a partner to bring it to market. It may be a better idea than Google Glass.

[Google]