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Mewonders why Google is developing this. Sure, Google is pretty diverse, but medical technology still seems a bit out-of-scope. Questions of corporate motivati
by gliese1337 11y ago
Mewonders why Google is developing this. Sure, Google is pretty diverse, but medical technology still seems a bit out-of-scope.
Questions of corporate motivation aside, however, this will never replace the majority of blood draws. The patent claims it is only intended for small samples, so if the lab needs more than this device can reliably extract in one go, they'll do it the old-fashioned way. Additionally, there's a high likelihood of hemolysis (rupturing of red blood cells, which releases haemoglobin and the rest of the contents of the cytoplasm into the blood plasma). The patent does not appear to address that issue (perhaps I just missed it, but I saw no references), but my wife (who is an ICU/ER nurse) tells me it is problem. That also severely restricts the range of tests for which blood drawn by this method would be suitable.
- minimaxir 11y agoKeep in mind that Google has an entire division for projects that are not necessarily tired to the core search business. A system for blood-free draw that works reliably would fit the moonshot descriptor quite easily.
- justinator 11y agoTheir core advertising business
- jessedhillon 11y agoI'm actually curious about what you think your comment is adding.
- raverbashing 11y agoAlphabet, not Google anymore, no?
- BlakePetersen 11y agoThey are also working on a glucose-tracking contact lens. Continuous glucose monitoring is one of the last components of the "Artificial Pancreas" that could be employed by type 1 diabetics like me. Using the Dexcom CGM system with an insulin pump, an rpi, and Nighthawk, some actually have an artificial pancreas (skirting the FDA's approval latency). I would imagine Google sees this as a huge opportunity to affect a HUGE community with a chronic condition and demonstrate their prowess in yet another industry.
- nemothekid 11y ago>Mewonders why Google is developing this. Wouldn't this be part of their Calico subsidiary?
- kakali 11y agoThis was filed also before the re-org to Alphabet. I'd imagine that future patient filings would say Calico or Alphabet instead of Google Inc.
- notatoad 11y agoAnd questions like "why is google doing this" would seem to be one of the big reasons for the re-brand to Alphabet.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- QuercusMax 11y agoNot Calico. Google Life Sciences.
- codingdave 11y agoI presume the most practical application of this would be glucose testing for diabetics. There are many people who would prefer not to be sticking their fingertips all the time.
- GordonS 11y agoYeah, if you have to test regularly then your fingertips end up hurting like hell (for a while I had to test 10+ times a day). You also have to keep buying new needle drums/cassettes as well as glucose strips - not sure if this system cuts down on disposable parts?
- Squarel 11y agoI thought most people used the insulin pumps now, with the lancet for testing?
- JulianMorrison 11y agoThey'll probably still hurt. This thingie basically shoots you with a teensy tiny bullet and then slurps the resulting blood.
- petepete 11y agoI'm diabetic (T1) and would kill for an Android Wear device that logged my blood sugar level. It would be life-changing for me. Even though I can calculate (usually very accurately) what my level is based on the last measurement and what I've done and eaten since, knowing for sure and having a full log would relieve some pressure and remove any doubt I have, whilst saving my fingertips.
- leeoniya 11y agoGoogle's Sergey Brin [1] is married to 23andMe founder Anne Wojcicki [2], so there's a connection there... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergey_Brin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergey_Brin [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Wojcicki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Wojcicki
- nether 11y agowas married. Divorced in June.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- toomuchtodo 11y agohttp://www.vanityfair.com/style/2014/04/sergey-brin-amanda-rosenberg-affair http://www.vanityfair.com/style/2014/04/sergey-brin-amanda-r...
- seiji 11y agoGoogle also has a whole bio lab developing artificial human skin. just completely normal and innocuous coder edm bro stuff. nbd. https://www.google.com/search?q=google+human+skin https://www.google.com/search?q=google+human+skin
- pkaye 11y agoWhat about something like blood glucose measurement for diabetes? I think they wanted to do something for continuous monitoring for diabetics.
- morgante 11y agoGoogle (Alphabet) has an entire division devoted to health and biotechnology: Calico. Like most mature technology companies, they tackle a wide variety of problems well outside their core revenue business.
- jfoster 11y agoThat would make perfect sense if it's Calico behind this, but is it?
- dgacmu 11y agoThe opposite - it makes the most sense for life sciences; it would seem to dovetail well with their existing projects: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Life_Sciences https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Life_Sciences In particular, the contact lenses for glucose sensing, and the "disease-detecting nanoparticle platform," whatever that means. All of these have a flavor of less-invasive monitoring and diagnostics.
- QuercusMax 11y agoYep, that's right. Andy Conrad, our CEO, says our goal is to build a medical tricorder.
- QuercusMax 11y agoTwo divisions, actually: Calico and Google Life Sciences (where I work). We're making all sorts of really cool stuff, like glucose sensing patches for diabetes maintenance[1], solar-powered contact-lenses[2]. Calico is focused on life extension, GLS is much more practical. [1] http://www.mhealthnews.com/news/next-google-glucose-sensing-patch-diabetics http://www.mhealthnews.com/news/next-google-glucose-sensing-... [2]http://www.slate.com/blogs/business_insider/2015/10/19/google_patents_smart_wearable_contact_lens_that_monitors_data_and_is_powered.html http://www.slate.com/blogs/business_insider/2015/10/19/googl...
- dzhiurgis 11y ago
- pkaye 11y agoWhat about something like blood glucose measurement for diabetes? I think they wanted to do something for continuous monitoring for diabetics.
- dheera 11y agoAt this rate, maybe Google should just build its own country.
- awqrre 11y agothey want all the data
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- awqrre 11y agobecause you know this device will be online, at least indirectly.
- melted 11y agoPR
- clockworkelf 11y ago"a bit out-of-scope" haha .. the emperor wears no clothes.
- threatofrain 11y agoI imagine this as integrated into some kind of Android Health or Android Fitness program, capable of detecting glucose levels for diabetics, a competitor to Apple's Health app.