Google, Novartis to Develop Smart Contacts

The technologically advanced eyewear monitors blood sugar concentrations in diabetic patients.

Written byBob Grant
| 2 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
2:00
Share

GOOGLEInternet giant Google and pharmaceutical company Novartis are joining forces to develop a high-tech contact lens that will be able to monitor blood sugar levels in people with diabetes, Novartis announced in a statement released Tuesday (July 15).

Google announced the creation of a prototype of the smart lens in January. “We’re now 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,” the company said in a January 16 post on its official blog. “We’re testing prototypes that can generate a reading once per second.”

Six months later, Alcon, Novartis’s eye care unit, has licensed the technology from GoogleX, the research division within the Internet company that tackles global technological problems, with the goal of pushing the smart lens onto the market. “We are looking forward to working with Google to bring together their advanced technology and our extensive ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Related Topics

Meet the Author

  • From 2017 to 2022, Bob Grant was Editor in Chief of The Scientist, where he started in 2007 as a Staff Writer. Before joining the team, he worked as a reporter at Audubon and earned a master’s degree in science journalism from New York University. In his previous life, he pursued a career in science, getting a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology from Montana State University and a master’s degree in marine biology from the College of Charleston in South Carolina. Bob edited Reading Frames and other sections of the magazine.

    View Full Profile
Share
Image of a woman with her hands across her stomach. She has a look of discomfort on her face. There is a blown up image of her stomach next to her and it has colorful butterflies and gut bacteria all swarming within the gut.
November 2025, Issue 1

Why Do We Feel Butterflies in the Stomach?

These fluttering sensations are the brain’s reaction to certain emotions, which can be amplified or soothed by the gut’s own “bugs".

View this Issue
Olga Anczukow and Ryan Englander discuss how transcriptome splicing affects immune system function in lung cancer.

Long-Read RNA Sequencing Reveals a Regulatory Role for Splicing in Immunotherapy Responses

Pacific Biosciences logo
Research Roundtable: The Evolving World of Spatial Biology

Research Roundtable: The Evolving World of Spatial Biology

Conceptual cartoon image of gene editing technology

Exploring the State of the Art in Gene Editing Techniques

Bio-Rad
Conceptual image of a doctor holding a brain puzzle, representing Alzheimer's disease diagnosis.

Simplifying Early Alzheimer’s Disease Diagnosis with Blood Testing

fujirebio logo

Products

Labvantage Logo

LabVantage Solutions Awarded $22.3 Million U.S Customs and Border Protection Contract to Deliver Next-Generation Forensic LIMS

The Scientist Placeholder Image

Evosep Unveils Open Innovation Initiative to Expand Standardization in Proteomics

OGT logo

OGT expands MRD detection capabilities with new SureSeq Myeloid MRD Plus NGS Panel