Google Inc acquires high-tech spoon maker Lift Labs

Google Inc is reported to have acquired the maker of a high-tech spoon that helps people suffering from neurodegenerative tremors to eat, in its latest initiative in the healthcare and biotechnology market.

The company would join the Google[x] division, which is focused on projects such as self-driving cars and drones, and which has a Life Sciences group, Google said yesterday.
The internet search company did not disclose the price it had paid for the acquisition, Lift Labs.

Lift's tremor cancellation spoon, which costs $295, would continue to be available for sale, according to the company's web site. A sensor-packed handle on the spoon would detect the hand tremors that afflicted people with Parkinson's disease and Essential Tremor, and use technology to stabilise itself.

The company said in a post on its Google+ service yesterday that it would also explore how Lift's technology "could be used in other ways to improve the understanding and management of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease and essential tremor."

Google co-founder Sergey Brin had said that he had a higher-than-average chance of contracting Parkinson's disease, which had afflicted his mother.

The acquisition builds on the company's recent health-related services initiative after the company said, earlier this year, that it was testing a special contact lens for diabetics that is capable of monitoring blood-sugar levels. In 2013 Google created a separate company, Calico, focused on development of technologies to tackle health issues related to aging.

The Liftware spoon has, in clinical trials, proven effective to the extent of 70 per cent in tremor cancellation, RTT News reported. The proprietary technology uses an on-board computer for adapting to a user's tremor.

Essential tremor, a common neurological disorder, manifests in involuntary, rhythmic shaking movement, occurring most often in hands, among adults. An estimated 10 million US citizens suffer from the condition, according to experts and though not life-threatening, essential tremor could significantly impact daily activities like writing, eating and getting dressed.