Secrets Revealed on New Experimental Google Wristband

Google has an experimental health-tracking wristband that would be a regulated medical device.

Nancy Crotti

Google has revealed a health-tracking wristband designed for prescription-only and clinical trial use.

Andrew Conrad, PhD, head of the life sciences division at the Google X research lab, told Bloomberg that the wristband could continuously measure a patient's pulse, and skin temperature, as well as light exposure and noise levels. It is still at the experimental stage.

Unlike its Android Wear smartwatch, which tracks fitness for consumers, Google considers its new wristband a medical device. Most consumer-directed health-trackers are not rigorous enough for clinical trials, Conrad told Bloomberg. (The Apple Watch, for example, has fairly prosaic fitness monitoring capabilities by 2015 standards.)

Having patients wear a continuous-reporting device that is accurate and reliable could greatly improve compliance with clinical trials, Kara Dennis, managing director at Medidata, told Bloomberg. Conrad said the company would work with medical researchers and pharmaceutical companies to test the wristband's accuracy before seeking approval from FDA and European regulators. Trials to test the band will begin this summer, Bloomberg reported.

The wristband is Google's latest stab at a medical device. Google announced in January 2014 that it was developing a contact lens that could track blood glucose levels.

The company has come a long way in its healthcare efforts. Google revealed the existence of the new wristband almost four years ago to the day after saying it would shut down its medical records and health data platform. Google said in a blog post at the time that it hadn't figured out a way to get the public to use it.

Conrad told Bloomberg that Google might look for a company to manufacture the wristband, similar to the deal that it made with Novartis AG to make and market the contact lens. He also said that he hopes that Google will eventually market the new wristband to consumers.

Nancy Crotti is a contributor to Qmed and MPMN.

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