Google X Labs Working on Medical-Grade Health-Tracking Wristband

Google is working on a medical-grade health-tracking wristband that is much more accurate than regular wearables available in the market. It is meant to help doctors and medical researchers track the health of patients and volunteers outside of the hospital, providing a constant stream of medical data.

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As per a Bloomberg report that cites the Head of Life Sciences at Google, Andy Conrad, the wearable like others in the market would be able to measure heart rate and pulse of the user, but with minute-to-minute updates. Furthermore, the device would also measure skin temperature on minute-by-minute basis and will also deliver external information such as sun exposure. These attributes make it more suited to health-monitoring than regular wearables in the market.

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The band is under development by Google X, the same section of the Mountain View company which was responsible for project like Google Glass, Google Loon and even self-driving cars. The company has in the recent past been working on several healthcare-focused technologies, from smart contact lenses for glucose monitoring to the Google Baseline Study and nanoparticles to detect disease.

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"Our intended use is for this to become a medical device that's prescribed to patients or used for clinical trials," said Conrad in a telephone interview to Bloomberg.

By prescribing the piece of device to patients, Google is aiming to help doctors tackle issues face during tracking the health of their patients. Conrad added that Google will soon team up with academic researchers and drugmakers to test the device's accuracy and seek clearance to use in the US and Europe. The company may also seek a manufacturing partner.

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Google X in April was reported to be working on next-generation lithium-ion and solid-state battery technologies for consumer electronics. The company is said to have at least 20 battery-dependent projects under works that will have applications for the new technologies.