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Google has revealed an ambitious project to create nanoparticles that be injected into the bloodstream and sniff out the early signs of disease.

It hopes the system would allow cancer, heart disease and other patients to be diagnosed and treated far earlier that they are today.

The technology is being developed at Google's [x] lab, where work is also underway on smart contact lenses to montor diabetics and special cutlery to eliminate the tremors of patients. 

Google says its nanoparticles could be combined with a wearable sensor to 'sniff' out and attach themselves to diseased cells - which can then be monitored using a handheld sensor 

'Much of the improvement in cancer survival rates over the last 30 years is due to earlier detection, like skin cancer screening and Pap smears,' Google said, announcing the project.

'Yet for many serious diseases, there still aren't good enough diagnostics to help doctors catch them in their earliest stages, when they're most treatable. 

'Pancreatic cancer is famously elusive, with only 3% of cases found in the first, most curable stage. And some lung cancer tumors are so aggressive that they even kill people who go for annual CT screening, growing deadly in less than 12 months.'

Google' sengineers hope to harness the chemical signals given off by cells as they become diseased. 

'We wondered: could continuous measurement of subtle changes in the chemistry of the blood be a way to detect a disease very early, when it's most treatable?'

The firm says it is now exploring whether tiny particles ('nanoparticles') in the bloodstream and a wearable device equipped with special sensors could work together to help physicians detect a disease that's starting to develop in the body.

'Although we're still in the early stages of scientific exploration, we can imagine many different applications of this technology. 

'Maybe there could be a test for the enzymes given off by arterial plaques that are about to rupture and cause a heart attack or stroke. 

A Google smart contact lens that can monitor the glucose levels in the eye is being developed in a partnership with Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis. It works using tiny sensors and microchips fitted into contact lenses that can then measure and read the amount of glucose in tears, before sending the information to a mobile device so diabetics can manage their condition.

'Perhaps someone could develop a diagnostic for post-surgery or post-chemo cancer patients – that's a lot of anxious people right there.

Google said it has already started work on the project, ans plans to license the technology to medical firms to develop the finished tests.

INSPIRED BY AN EMPLOYEE

The project was inspired by a Google engineer.

Two years ago, Google software engineer Tom Stanis was hit by a car while riding his bicycle. 

'He has no memory of the accident, but he'll never forget this: in the hospital emergency room, a doctor told him that his medical scans, intended to check for internal bleeding, had revealed a tumor in his kidney,' the firm said. 

Renal cancer typically has few if any symptoms until it's too late. 

Thanks to this unlikely early diagnosis, Tom had surgery to remove the tumor and is now cancer free. 

He's now a member of the Google[x] Life Sciences team and inspired them to pursue this project.

'We've run many promising experiments around 4 core components of a nanodiagnostics platform – designing nanoparticles, binding them to target cells, detecting them with a non-invasive device, and counting them.

'It could take years to reveal the potential of this technology – nature is a formidable foe – but we hope it's less than a decade, given what's at stake.'