DHAKA: Google unveiled Thursday a contact lens that monitors glucose levels in tears, a potential reprieve for millions of diabetics who have to jab their fingers to draw their own blood as many as 10 times a day.

The prototype, which Google says will take at least five years to reach consumers, is one of several medical devices being designed by companies to make glucose monitoring for diabetic patients more convenient and less invasive than the traditional finger pricks.

The lenses use a minuscule glucose sensor and wireless transmitters to help those among the world`s 382 million diabetics who need insulin keep a close watch on their blood sugar and adjust their dose.

The contact lenses were developed during the past 18 months in the clandestine Google X lab that also came up with a driverless car, Google`s Web-surfing eyeglasses and Project Loon, a network of large balloons designed to beam the Internet to unwired places.

The lenses use a minuscule glucose sensor and a wireless transmitter to help those who are among the world`s 382 million diabetics who need insulin keep a close watch on their blood sugar and adjust their dose.

Source: huffingtonpost.com

BDST: 2240 HRS, JAN 17, 2013

Edited by: Morshed Jahan Mithun, Newsroom Editor