MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Silicon valley tech giant Google (NSDQ:GOOG) caused more than a stir when it revealed that its clandestine Google [X] labs had been working on a continuous glucose monitor that could be worn as a contact lens, but some device makers are wary and even offended at the hype.
"It’s a little frustrating for us who are actually trying to help patients when Google comes out with something that’s a science project," Dexcom (NSDQ:DXCM) strategy & corporate development executive vice president Steve Pacelli told MobiHealthNews. "And they kind of admit it. They say ‘we’re not going to do this on our own, we need to partner with industry, partner with experts.’ OK, fine, but now you’ve got the mainstream media picking it up just because it’s Google, saying ‘Google’s going to eliminate the need to prick your finger, you can just wear a contact lens around.’ It’s not fair to patients. It’s disingenuous."
Rumors of Google’s interest in medical technology began last month when the company appeared in the FDA’s public calendar in meetings with medtech regulators. The tech titan later revealed its work on a smart contact lens, laden with sensors and transmitters, that aim to help diabetics monitor their blood glucose levels without the need for finger-prick blood tests.
Google has said that the technology may take years to overcome practical and regulatory hurdles and that the company will look to industry veterans to help push the project forward, but that hasn’t stopped the surge of enthusiasm over the potential for blood-free continuous glucose monitoring.
Some diabetes device makers aren’t quite as optimistic, casting a cautious eye on the project and warning that the challenges Google must overcome are surmountable.
"Lots of companies have tried and failed non-invasively to sense glucose in tears," Pacelli said. "You can measure glucose in tears, the concentration is a lot lower, there’s going to be huge time lag issues, the consistency of measurement is going to be a challenge. I don’t know how they’re going to power it, my guess is they’ll power it externally, but if you power it externally, it’s not really continuous real-time reporting."
"I’m just not sure that it’s reality," he added.
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