Mountain View, California: Google has unveiled a "smart contact lens" that can help measure glucose levels in tears. The device could be a boon for millions of diabetics who have to jab their fingers to draw their own blood as many as 10 times a day.
The lenses use a "tiny" wireless chip and a "miniaturised" glucose sensor embedded between two layers of lens material.
The prototype 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.
Google says it will take at least five years to reach consumers.
The Internet giant also said that work is in progress on integrating tiny LED lights that could light up to indicate that glucose levels have crossed 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," the firm said in a blogpost.
"We hope this could someday lead to a new way for people with diabetes to manage their disease."
