It’s late, you’re tired, and the last thing you want to do is get out of bed and take out your contact lenses. If so, you’re not alone: Around one-third of people who wear contact lenses have reported that they sleep or nap in them.
But people who do this have six to eight times the risk of developing eye infections, according to a new report published today (Aug. 16) in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Google’s “smart contact lens” just went from patents to partners.
The Google X project is now officially in lock step with healthcare giant Novartis, the parent of Alcon, which produces some of the most-widely used contact lens products on the market, including Air Optix, FreshLook and Dailies. Novartis will work on turning Google’s lab project into smart contact lenses for people around the world.
A product of Google Research, the smart lenses look like traditional contact lenses. The company’s eye care division, Alcon, will license Google’s smart lens and co-develop them for a variety of ocular medical uses.
Ophthalmic electrochemical sensors in the contact lenses are designed to measure glucose levels and offer real-time updates to an app on a connected mobile device for people with diabetes. Google secured a patent for the technology earlier this year
Dispatches From The Front 