GOOGLE SMART LENS

Diabetes capital of the world.....INDIA

With the ever growing population of diabetics in India we surely need newer, pain-free economical, time saving ways to keep a track on our blood sugars.

Why should we keep blood sugars under perfect control?

As per the data available it is evident that the complications of diabetes start even before the sugars actually go up (PREDIABETES). So, needless to say that we need proper blood sugar control for all 365 days.

Why patients do not check blood sugars regularly?

I might not be able to present a complete list but here are few i found in my practice

• Just because patients are on tablets they feel tablets will handle any amount of sugars.
• Patients have not been properly sensitized to importance of blood sugar testing.
• Blood collection for sugar testing is painful.
• Difficult to go early morning to lab for fasting blood sample
• Afraid of Needle pricks
• Glucometer strips are costly.
• Glucometer readings are not accurate (Generally it happens because the glucometer is not calibrated)
• Cost factor
• Phobia (what if the readings are high!!)

What are the options we can expect in future??

I have blogged about this topic in the past under various headings

Prick free blood sugar monitoring using infra red sensors

Diabetic jewelry

Some insulin pumps comes with option of blood sugar monitoring

Newer software which monitors blood sugars and sends information to your physician

Why we need to monitor blood sugars at regular intervals??

Glucose levels change frequently with normal activity like exercising or eating or even sweating. Sudden spikes or precipitous drops are dangerous and not uncommon, requiring round-the-clock monitoring.

Research in the field of blood sugar monitoring

Many scientists have investigated various body fluids like tears to find an easier way for people to track their glucose levels.

To collect tears for sample analysis is not so easy.

The answer to this was given by Google[x]. They used miniaturized electronics like chips and sensors so small they look like bits of glitter and an antenna thinner than a human hair. Now they are 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. Prototypes can generate a reading once per second. They also plan to integrate LED which will light up when glucose levels are high or low. This innovative and out of the box technology is still in its very early days. With further technology refining and population based studies when this product comes into the marker I am very hopeful that it will one day be a powerful tool to effectively manage the diabetes epidemic.

THANKS TO GOOGLE AND ITS SCIENTIFIC TEAM FOR THEIR EXTRAORDINARY EFFORTS!

My blog posts on pain free blood sugar monitoring 

PAIN-FREE BLOOD SUGAR MONITORING

WHAT WE CAN EXPECT IN FUTURE

NON INVASIVE GLUCOMETER DREAMS