Google has filed a patent for a wearable device that it claims can target particles in the blood and change their function, with the potential to treat cancer.
The device was invented by Andrew Jason Conrad, a project manager at Google[x], the Mountain View, Calif.-based company's hardware products and research side. The wearable is designed to attach to the wrist and is affixed to a magnet aimed at subsurface veins. The magnet is tuned and configured to a target type of cell that has the ability to cause adverse health effects.
The patent suggests using it to treat Parkinson's disease by providing particles that attach to proteins that have been indicated to a partial cause of Parkinson's. Cancer is another suggested target, saying the device could selectively target and modify or destroy cancer cells, effectively stopping its spread. The device has not been built or tested yet.
Treating diseases with nanoparticles is a fairly new science — researchers have been developing it for medical use over the past several years. Potential therapies include treatments for kidney diseases, amyloid diseases and cardiovascular diseases, according to the National Institutes of Health.