Google is testing a contact lens for tear glucose detection. After years of scalding soldering hair-thin wires to miniaturize electronics, Brian Otis, Google X project lead, has burned his fingertips so often that he can no longer feel the tiny chips he made from scratch in Google’s Silicon Valley headquarters, a small price to pay for what he says is the smallest wireless glucose sensor that has ever been made. (AP Photo/Google)
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.
Brian Otis, Google X project lead, speaks about a contact lens Google is testing to explore tear glucose in Mountain View, CA. The contact lens is designed to monitor 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. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Read: Google Develops Contact Lens Glucose Monitor