, CNN
Tattoos are considered to be among the oldest forms of art, dating back thousands of years and practiced by many cultures across human history. Now some researchers believe the next generation of tattoos will be about more than just markings – by helping keep tabs on our health.
Creating “smart tattoo” pigments that can be injected under the skin to monitor certain biomarkers in the human body requires a collaboration between “scientists, engineers and designers,” says Dr. Ali Yetisen, a researcher in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London.
His concept replaces conventional tattoo ink with “functional materials,” Yetisen says, creating “tattoos that change their color in response to external stimuli,” such as a change in blood sugar levels for people with diabetes, monitoring kidney or liver functions, or warning athletes of dehydration.
Yetisen began his work as a postdoctoral research scientist at Harvard Medical School. Along with fellow Harvard and MIT researchers, he debuted a proof of concept called Dermal Abyss in 2017. Four biosensors changed color in response to “three pieces of biochemical information in body fluid,” including glucose and pH levels, according to MIT.
“We hope that these innovative technologies will be a general platform in order to utilize diagnostic technologies,” Yetisen says, including a “wide range of implantable and injectable sensors that can report and display the human condition in real time.”
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