{"id":4724,"date":"2015-06-17T07:04:00","date_gmt":"2015-06-17T07:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/revoscience.com\/en\/?p=4724"},"modified":"2015-06-17T07:04:00","modified_gmt":"2015-06-17T07:04:00","slug":"medella-plans-to-take-on-google-microsoft-in-building-a-smart-contact-lens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/medella-plans-to-take-on-google-microsoft-in-building-a-smart-contact-lens\/","title":{"rendered":"Medella Plans to Take on Google, Microsoft in Building a Smart Contact Lens"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"(AP<\/a>
(AP Photo\/Google)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Medella, a medical technology startup, is joining the growing competition \u2014 which includes the likes of Google and Microsoft \u2014 seeking to manufacture and enhance a \u201csmart contact lens\u201d for people with diabetes.<\/span><\/p>\n

The goal is for the device to measure glucose levels found in moisture surrounding the eye, thanks to a pint-sized biosensor stored in the center of the lens.<\/span><\/p>\n

MIT Technology Review\u2019s Caleb Garling\u00a0writes<\/span><\/a>\u00a0that a \u201ccircuit will process and transmit the data\u201d the biosensor collects \u201cvia an antenna to a small device which may attach to the patient\u2019s collar, glasses, or a necklace.\u201d The final part of the process involves transmitting the information from this attachment to smartphone or similar gadget with Bluetooth capabilities so an application can store the stats and examine the data.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Medella Founder Harry Gandhi told Garling that the company\u2019s smart contact lens is still in a prototype phase, but declined to mention specifically when it would be market-ready. His team is currently building their own app to manage the data collected from the lens as well as refining the functionality for type 1 and type 2 diabetics.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Google unveiled the first prototype of its\u00a0glucose-monitoring contact lens<\/span><\/a>\u00a0last year as part of the company\u2019s foray into the biotech sector whereas Microsoft\u2019s research arm is also experimenting with\u00a0their own lens.<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Medella\u2019s creation will operate in a similar manner as Google\u2019s and Microsoft\u2019s: by monitoring glucose levels in the eye and sending the information back to a wireless device capable for analysis.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, Gandhi told Garling Medella\u2019s product will be different from competitors because it will provide a sensor that doesn\u2019t need consistent calibration, and also deliver longer battery life.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although these lenses are being developed as a simpler way to manage blood sugar levels instead of relying on the blood-test via finger prick method, these lenses won\u2019t be available for public use for several years.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gandhi, a former student of the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, founded Medella in 2013.<\/span><\/p>\n

Medella\u00a0received an investment<\/span><\/a>\u00a0of $100,000\u00a0from the Thiel Foundation this month, a philanthropic funding organization created by well-known venture capitalist Peter Thiel. The Thiel Foundation gives grants to fledgling entrepreneurs with the mandate of dropping out of college to pursue their ideas. Medella was part of the organization\u2019s fellowship program this year.<\/span><\/p>\n

More than 29 million people in the United States have diabetes,\u00a0according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Medella, a medical technology startup, is joining the growing competition \u2014 which includes the likes of Google and Microsoft \u2014 seeking to manufacture and enhance a \u201csmart contact lens\u201d for people with diabetes. The goal is for the device to measure glucose levels found in moisture surrounding the eye, thanks to a pint-sized biosensor stored […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":4725,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-innovation","category-techbiz"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Google_Glucose_Monitor.jpg",512,341,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Google_Glucose_Monitor-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Google_Glucose_Monitor-300x199.jpg",300,199,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Google_Glucose_Monitor.jpg",512,341,false],"large":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Google_Glucose_Monitor.jpg",512,341,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Google_Glucose_Monitor.jpg",512,341,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Google_Glucose_Monitor.jpg",512,341,false],"ultp_layout_landscape_large":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Google_Glucose_Monitor.jpg",512,341,false],"ultp_layout_landscape":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Google_Glucose_Monitor.jpg",512,341,false],"ultp_layout_portrait":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Google_Glucose_Monitor.jpg",512,341,false],"ultp_layout_square":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Google_Glucose_Monitor.jpg",512,341,false],"newspaper-x-single-post":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Google_Glucose_Monitor.jpg",512,341,false],"newspaper-x-recent-post-big":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Google_Glucose_Monitor.jpg",512,341,false],"newspaper-x-recent-post-list-image":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Google_Glucose_Monitor.jpg",95,63,false],"web-stories-poster-portrait":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Google_Glucose_Monitor.jpg",512,341,false],"web-stories-publisher-logo":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Google_Glucose_Monitor.jpg",96,64,false],"web-stories-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Google_Glucose_Monitor.jpg",150,100,false]},"author_info":{"info":["Amrita Tuladhar"]},"category_info":"Innovation<\/a> Tech<\/a>","tag_info":"Tech","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4724\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}