This Tuesday, Google announced that it has begun a partnership with Novartis to create a contact lens with the ability to monitor blood sugar levels for its wearer.

This move comes at a time when the trend among tech companies like Apple and Samsung has become delivering devices and applications that can track biometric data. 

In a report by the New York Times, Novartis is credited with stating that Alcon (Novartis' eye care division) has agreed to license its "smart lens" technology from a sub-division of Google's research outfit. The terms of this deal have not been disclosed. 

Google's prototype "smart contact lens" will be the jumping off point for Alcon, as they look for ways to further develop the idea for more and more medical applications.

The lenses use tiny sensors and a radio antenna that's actually thinner than a human hair in order to keep track of a person's glucose levels. The actual transmission process has not been specified by either company. 

Knowing your blood sugar levels is particularly important to those with diabetes, and this information could then be sent to mobile devices (smartphones or tablets) in order to utilized by doctors and patients to keep track of the data in near real time. 

Novartis' chief executive Joe Jimenez has acknowledged that other similarly noninvasive methods for measuring a person's glucose levels have failed, and admitting that Novartis attempted to realize its own "glucose monitoring contact lense" but ultimately failed.

Jimenez and Novartis are banking that Google's engineers will make sure this time it does work.

Another product also in development is said to work much like the "autofocus on a camera," helping people focus on objects when they are near and then automatically adjusting when a person looks at something farther away. 

Jimenez remains optimistic about the partnership, though he admitted "This will take a few years as opposed to a few months."

He also refused to discuss the financial structure of the partnership with Google. The individual cost of the lenses is also something Jimenez could not give a figure on (but that may be because he simply doesn't know at this stage). 

Google co-founder Sergey Brin is optimistic about the lens technology, and claimed it could help improve the quality of life for millions of people. 

This new trend in tech companies venturing into the healthcare and biotech markets seems to be the result of several of the world's largest technology companies searching for new ventures as a way to sustain or encourage growth, according to the Times.

Industry analysts have weighed in and concluded that the pharmaceutical and healthcare markets could be vital in the near future, as people increasingly use mobile devices in conjunction with their own personal healthcare.