Image source: http://www.popsugar.com/tech/Google-X-Nano-Pill-36017725
In October 2014, Google claimed that
Google X research lab is currently at the early stage of designing the nanoparticles
which aims to detect disease like cancer, heart attack and so on. Google
further stressed that it would come in a form of pill that works with a
wearable magnetic device - smart wristband.
Image source: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-29802581
With
this pill, a patient would just have to swallow it so that the
nanoparticles that contains antibodies are able to enter into the
bloodstream and seek for the sign of disease. If there is any disease
found, for example like cancer cell, it would then report to the smart
wristband for analysation. After analysing and compiling
those data, it will automatically report back to the doctor. As such,
Google aims to monitor blood through nanoparticles and to shift today's
practice of going hospital constantly for a checkup. It would be more
effective as the health of the patients can be monitored continuously
instead of once in awhile.
This
idea is worth considering because the cancer like kidney, ovarian, pancreatic
cancer are often hardly to be found in the early stage. With
this technology, it helps the patient to identify the disease as
early as possible, so that it gets a higher chance to be treated before
it had a chance to spread. In other words, this
technology could save lives. Not only that, the cancer could
even be cured without having any painful surgery. Hence, this would be the
future of preventing sick and diseases.
Is there any risk?
After
Google has released the plan, people are started wondering whether there
is any negative consequences after they have ingested that particular
pill. In fact, Google has carried out several tests and trials to
prove that this nanoparticles platform is safe and it does not contains any
unexpected effects. Additionally, these nanoparticles are not going to
stay forever in the body like what other forms of nanoparticles
will do; it will expelled through urine. Moreover, it has no chance
to cause a problem in the body because it will only takes a very short time to
circulate through blood with its features of incredible tiny size.
Also, Google
is working on developing several versions of nanoparticle pills that
could fit with people from different health risks. However, it still
requires a lot of effort and hard work to convince the public that it
would be safe to place those nanoparticles inside their bodies.
Moreover, since this technology is still at an early development stage, it
might causes any negative consequences that has not been figured out.
Furthermore,
the founder of Nanobiotix (a French company) has claimed that the idea
of targeting cancerous cells by using nanoparticles is not new and it is
achievable. In fact, similar forms of nanoparticles that tackle for other
diseases or to deliver drugs can be found in the market today. Google
at the same time said that it will be taking approximately
another five years to be visible or access by the public.
Google,
the search engine is not taking any medical data that gathered by the
accompanying wearable device because there will be another third party, a
medical company to look after the security as well as the privacy; they
are working together in bringing this technology to the market. Although
launching this piece of technology is not easy yet challenging, Google is
believed to be financially stable in taking up this challenges. Therefore, it
is totally safe and reliable.
Written by: Team 3 (Pun Pui Yi)
References:
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[Accessed 24 April 2015].
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