Google has a “secret” laboratory called Google X that works on a wide range of things from self-driving cars to hoverboards. Now, Google X has a new project━fighting cancer and other diseases with magnetic nanoparticles and a magnetic wearable device. The idea behind the project is to diagnose diseases at the earliest stages to increase the chance of successfully fighting them.
How Would It Work
Google has already tackled search inside the World Wide Web, and now, the company is looking to tackle search inside the human body. Extremely tiny magnetic nanoparticles━about one-thousandth the size of a red blood cell━are put into the bloodstream. The method by which these enter the bloodstream has not been officially decided yet, but
some reports suggest a pill that you swallow may be used to administer them. The magnetic particles would attach to cells and other molecules and when anything changed in your body, they would pick up on it and communicate it through the wearable device.
In a
Smithsonian article, the head of Google X’s Life Sciences team, Andrew Conrad, describes just how powerful this magnetic innovation could be for the medical field saying,
"Every test you ever go to the doctor for will be done through this system." He goes on to describe how magnetic nanoparticles are essential to its function because, “These little particles go out and mingle with the people, we call them back to one place, and we ask them: ‘Hey, what did you see?”
There are still a few kinks to work out before this disease detecting nanotechnology will be ready for deployment though. One challenge that the project has to overcome is figuring out what amount or dosage of nanoparticles to use for each subject. They would also have to get FDA approval, optimize the battery life of the wearable devices and test it out.
We think that it is one of the most fascinating and possibly life-changing things to come from the tech giant. However, it is too soon to call, and it is likely that these devices won’t be fully functional or even close to deployment for at least five years. But in the meantime, we can still eagerly follow its progress! What do you think about using magnetic nanoparticles to detect diseases in the body?
