A team at Verily Life Sciences is developing a prototype for a less invasive type of blood draw, sources familiar with the matter told CNBC.
Verily, an Alphabet company formerly known as Google Life Sciences, has been working on the project — which has not been publicly announced — for several years. The team is reportedly designing a device that collects blood "painlessly" using a system of microneedles and magnets, according to CNBC.
The needles reportedly draw blood by "exploding" into a person's skin, and are subsequently retracted by magnets, CNBC reports. Verily has explored several possible forms for the device during the past few years, including testing the idea through the use of a watch.
The project would likely not move into production for many years, in part because it would face significant technical and regulatory hurdles. However, Verily is reportedly entertaining several potential ideas for use involving the watch. The most likely use case discussed internally would be to track key blood markers for participants in clinical trials, according to the report.
Verily declined CNBC's request for comment.