Google has released details of a new contact lens which they hope will be able to monitor wearers’ blood sugar levels- Diabetics need to test their blood sugar regularly, which at the moment most likely means a finger prick with a needle.

The lens can apparently test glucose levels in the wearers tears, and is then be able to transmit the information wirelessly to a device- a dedicated receiver or perhaps even a smartphone, but in future they are looking into the possibility of incorporating tiny LED lights, which could flash if the sugar levels are too high or too low.

There are a few issues to overcome before the lens can go into production- they need to find a manufacturing partner, but also, research needs to be done into the glucose levels in the tears of diabetic patients- it is well known that tears do contain glucose, to nourish the cornea which has no blood supply, but how it fluctuates with blood sugar levels and perhaps tear evporation is not so well understood at the moment.

This contact lens is one of many projects Google is investigating in its new healthcare division called Calico, launched in September 2013.