Google X team meets with FDA over unnamed medical device, Bloomberg reports

The Google X team is known for its secrecy, working on moonshot ideas like quantum computing and balloon-powered wireless signals, but a new report may have tipped their hand. Bloomberg is reporting a meeting between the FDA’s medical device team and three members of Google’s secretive research team. The FDA staffers involved reportedly specialize in devices targeting the eyes and heart, while one of the Google X team members, Brian Otis, holds a patent on a wireless contact-lens biosensor.

The meeting was classified in the FDA’s public calendar as a “meet and greet,” so it’s unlikely there was a specific application being discussed, but the meeting offers a surprising window into the company’s plans, and displays a new willingness to work with regulators as Google expands into the medical field. Google’s Glass project has already found supporters among medical professionals, with new projects like Glassomics promising to use the wearable device in visualizing vital signs or overlaying data onto medical reports.