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Message started by Oldfeller on 01/16/14 at 21:39:41

Title: New Moonshot -- contacts that monitor blood sugar
Post by Oldfeller on 01/16/14 at 21:39:41

http://liliputing.com/2014/01/google-testing-smart-contact-lenses-monitor-glucose-levels.html

http://cdn.liliputing.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/google-smart-contact-lens.jpg

OK, Google is into robotics and instrumentation in a big way now. They are branching out looking for groundbreaking new industries in the making.

They are now polling the very smartest young people up to young professionals to see what they can dream up and when the golden nugget ideas appear Google funds them as Moonshots.

(The theory being that the Apollo program yielded most of the USA's original technical lead over the rest of the world, and that Google's Moonshots can do the same again)

Take this monitoring system and combine it with a in-bedded and fully miniaturized insulin pump system and you got some right decent progress towards handling diabetes better/smoother.

;) As one of the stick me twice a day boys, I appreciate this effort.

Title: Re: New Moonshot -- contacts that monitor blood su
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 01/16/14 at 21:49:35

Wont be long till theyve got sensors in our drawers so they can tax us for fartin,, They better be tuff. Im thinkin I can "One Fart, knock them OUT" unless theyre potted in high temp epoxy.

Title: Re: New Moonshot -- contacts that monitor blood su
Post by verslagen1 on 01/16/14 at 21:58:27

if you have inbeded pump with direct access to blood... why would you need an eyeball reader?

Title: Re: New Moonshot -- contacts that monitor blood su
Post by arteacher on 01/17/14 at 06:04:51

Insulin pumps are not embedded- they are worn on your belt.
The problem is the time lag between the administration of insulin and it's effect on blood sugar levels- about 20 min. The other problem is that you would have to have a line out for blood samples as well as a line in, and you would face coagulation problems. The ideal solution (and I'me sure somebody is working on it) is an internally mounted unit similar to a pacemaker that injects insulin directly into the blood stream, and monitors levels directly as well. Then how do you get the insulin to the machine? Add to that the problem that insulin degrades slowly at room temp (you need to keep it refrigerated) and would degrade quickly if stored at body temp.
I inject 6 times/day, and it is a real PITA. :(

Title: Re: New Moonshot -- contacts that monitor blood su
Post by old_rider on 01/17/14 at 06:09:17

I have a bud that has a direct inject system, all he has to do is change the insulin pack when its empty. He has a unit like a cell phone that monitors his levels and tells him when he needs to replace the empty unit pack.
He can also tell the pump how many calories he is going to consume in a meal (his best guess) and the unit will monitor and add as needed.

Title: Re: New Moonshot -- contacts that monitor blood su
Post by arteacher on 01/17/14 at 06:18:26

6C6F67716A676671030 wrote:

I have looked at those- they are silly expensive, not usually covered under health plans. BTW your bud is inputting carbs, not calories.
And he still has to prick his finger to monitor sugar levels, unless there is something out there that I haven't heard of.
That contact lens would be ideal if it communicated with a pump.

Title: Re: New Moonshot -- contacts that monitor blood su
Post by old_rider on 01/17/14 at 06:22:10

yup, still does the finger thing, he is ex military so is covered under the va or some such.

Title: Re: New Moonshot -- contacts that monitor blood su
Post by Pine on 01/17/14 at 07:39:41

Cool of tech... I approve.

I do hope that someday...biotech will come up with more permanent solutions.. grow-your-liver type options.

Title: Re: New Moonshot -- contacts that monitor blood su
Post by Dane Allen on 01/17/14 at 09:44:25

I stick 4x a day and inject 3x. I was hoping for the wrist watch effort that used either some sort of UV light or used chemical analysis of skin surface (sweat maybe) to check glucose levels every 20 minutes. I can always dream.