Tech giant Google has filed a patent for a “needle-free blood watch”.

Clearly aimed at diabetics and others who need to draw blood often, the watch would send an “abrupt surge of gas” onto a wearer’s finger, puncturing the skin.

The blood droplet would then be sucked into a negative pressure chamber.

• Apple fuels rumours of self-driving car
• Google changes logo to match new name
• New Samsung galaxy to challenge Apple

The patent suggests that “such an application might be used to draw a small amount of blood, for example, for a glucose test,” according to RT.

The blood-sucking smart watch would not only make drawing samples easier for diabetes sufferers, it would also be less painful than using a needle, according to Google.

It’s an exciting prospect, but the company is keeping a lid on the idea, telling The Verge: “We hold patents on a variety of ideas — some of those ideas later mature into real products or services, some don’t.

“Prospective product announcements should not necessarily be inferred from our patents.”

The company is currently working on a few other diabetes-centric inventions, including smart contact lenses and a bandage-sized sensor that both detect a wearer’s glucose levels.

Google, now known as Alphabet, is conducting such experiments under the subsidiary name Life Sciences.

Since even a prototype is a long way off existence, it may be too soon to start debating whether we should be surrendering our biological data to one of the world’s most powerful companies.