谷歌跨足生技再邁大步、收購帕金森氏症防抖湯匙商 MoneyDJ新聞 2014-09-11 14:26:31 記者 陳苓 報導蘋果(Apple)跨足行動支付業務的同時，搜尋引擎巨擘谷歌(Google)也沒閒著，積極進軍醫療業，10日宣布買下生技公司Lift Labs，詳細收購金額未對外公佈。CNET和紐約時報10日報導，Lift Labs生產高科技湯匙「Liftware」，帕金森氏症和原發性顫抖症(essential tremor)的病患，手臂會不自主抽搐，影響進食，Liftware湯匙有震動功能，可以抵銷患者手部的抖動，減少食物潑灑，讓病患能安心享受用餐之樂。(影片見此)與Lift Labs合作的密西根大學神經學教授Kelvin Chou表示，社交互動往往在用餐時進行，患者會因此感到尷尬，覺得大家都盯著他們看。Chou測試Liftware湯匙，發現可以大幅減少灑出食物。Lift Labs創辦人Anupam Pathak說，相關科技應用範圍極廣，可用於多種手持裝置。患者無法控制手部運動，嚴重影響心理情緒，比方說，女患者無法化妝，可能會因此不願出門。谷歌創辦人Sergey Brin的母親患有帕金森氏症，他說自己有5成機會患病。美國約有1,100萬帕金森氏症和原發性顫抖症病患。谷歌大舉揮軍生技領域。華爾街日報7月24日報導，谷歌投入預防性醫療研究，將從大批受試者身上取得基因和分子資訊，盼能蒐集到最完整的健康人體數據，藉此早期發現心臟病、癌症等患者，提前預防，不要等發病之後再醫治。這個研究計畫名為「基準研究」(Baseline Study)，已在今年夏天啟動，將採集175名受試者的尿液、血液、唾液、眼淚等體液，加以分析。未來還將與史丹福和杜克大學醫學院合作，再找數千人加入採樣測試行列。瑞士藥廠諾華(Novartis AG)7月15日宣布，旗下眼部護理公司愛爾康(Alcon)將與「Google X」實驗室攜手研發「智慧隱形鏡片」，解決眼部問題。新式隱形眼鏡將內嵌感測器、微晶片等，協助糖尿病患測量血糖值，並開發白內障患者的人工水晶體(Intraocular Lens)。
Google buys firm behind spoon for Parkinson's patients, The spoon, dubbed Liftware, uses vibrations to counteract the tremors brought on by Parkinson's disease11 September 2014 Google unveils 'smart contact lens' Google aims to help us live longer Google has bought a biotech company that has developed a spoon designed to make life easier for people with diseases such as Parkinson's. It is part of its ambitious foray into health technology, spurred in part by the personal interest of co-founder Sergey Brin. Last year, Google became the main investor in Calico, a firm dedicated to developing medicines to extend life. Latest acquisition Lift Labs will join Google's research division Google X. The spoon developed by Lift Labs is equipped with sensors that detect tremors and cancels them out by as much as 70%, according to the firm. The technology it uses is similar to image stabilisation features in cameras that compensate for shaky hands when taking a photo. The firms announced the deal on the search giant's social network Google+ but did not reveal the financial terms. "Today we're welcoming the Lift Labs team into Google X. Their tremor-cancelling device could improve quality of life for millions of people," said Google. For its part, Lift Labs wrote: "Google will enable us to reach even more people living with Parkinson's or essential tremor who could benefit from using tremor-cancelling devices every day." Google is gradually increasing its health portfolio. In January it unveiled its smart contact lenses that measure glucose levels in tears to help monitor people with conditions such as diabetes. And in July it announced an ambitious science project - Basline Study - to collect anonymous genetic and molecular information to create a picture of what a healthy human should be like. For co-founder Sergey Brin the move into healthcare is a personal one. His mother developed Parkinson's and, after gene testing, he found that he has a higher than average chance of getting the disease. Meanwhile his fellow co-founder Larry Page, who suffers from a rare vocal cords problem, is interested in how big data can help solve some of the world's most problematic diseases. He has made public his hope that people would overcome privacy fears to make their medical records available to researchers. Google's semi-secret research facility Google X was set up to work on cutting-edge technology. Other projects include Google's driverless car, balloons to deliver broadband and Google Glass.
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