Diabetes is a condition that requires constant attention and often turns into a chore, so Google and DexCom will improve upon glucose monitoring to make life easier for patients. Now turned from “Alphabet” to “Google Life Sciences”, the company has just announced their interest in tackling the daily issues diabetics have to face.
With their partnership with DexCom, they plan on successfully designing a continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) device that will be about the size of a bandage, easy to use and cheap enough to be disposed once a week without hesitation. It will represent the peak performance of both companies, a mix of Google high-end technology with DexCom’s focus in glucose monitoring services.
The goal is to make the strenuous task of monitor blood sugar easier for patients with type 1 diabetes, though they have stated that those diagnosed with type 2 might find great use in their device as well. It will not draw blood, will not need to be recalibrated, and it will be sending all the information to your phone.
Current devices include the finger pricking procedures that require diabetes patients to inflict small injuries every day that will determine the amount of sugar in their blood and, thus, help them track the state of their condition. However, this provides information for only that particular moment, and it’s a considerably sizeable device that is quite impractical, especially in the hands of children.
Other methods include CGM devices based on sensors that keep a constant eye on your blood sugar, reading and sending the information to a phone up to 288 times per day. It’s an excellent device that allows not only patients, but their family, such as parents of young children, to keep track of their loved one’s needs for insulin intake. However, they’re quite pricy.
Currently, DexCom has a similar product out that can cost between $70 and $75, in spite of being useful for just one week. So, Google Life Sciences is coming into the fold, by promising to develop a product that will constantly inform diabetes patients of their glucose levels for the same amount of time, only that it will be much more comfortable to use and gentler on their wallets.
Google engineers are constantly working on the task of making electronics smaller, displaying excellent ingenuity that is now moving into the market of battling against a condition that affects an estimated 387 million people worldwide.
The Google and DexCom high-tech, low-cost and disposable device is set to be ready within the next two to three years, but will not be out on the market for at least five years.
Image source: medgadget.com
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