American scientists have proposed to monitor health conditions using smart ink applied under the skin.
Tattoos have gone through an amazing evolution. Previously, by the tattoos on the body, it was possible to identify a savage from a tribe leading a primitive lifestyle. Then the drawings on the body became a hallmark of criminal elements.
It's just a way of expressing yourself now. But in the not too distant future, elderly people, athletes and astronauts, that is, people who have to take special care of their health, will start to fill their own tattoos.
This conclusion paradoxically stems from a joint study by scientists at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who developed biosensor tattoo inks that can monitor the health of patients.
Instead of fitness bracelets
“Wearable health gadgets are now common,” says one of the study's authors, Ali Etisen, from Massachusetts General Hospital. - In particular, these are fitness bracelets that measure heart rate, calorie consumption, distance traveled and a number of other parameters. But they have a number of disadvantages. For example, they do not integrate well with the body and give practically no information about what is happening inside the body. They can be discharged and easily forgotten at home. Finally, attackers hack such gadgets! And we thought: what generation of devices will be next after wearable ones? At some point, it dawned on us: what if we integrate biosensors into the skin so that it itself acts as a display?
How it works
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There is no electronics in this technology, it is based on simple chemical reactions. The ink comes into contact with the intercellular fluid in the body and changes its color depending on the concentration of certain substances in the blood.
Scientists have developed several types of ink. Some of them change their color in the range from blue to brown depending on the level of glucose in the blood. Such sensors can be used by people with diabetes. Now, in order to measure their sugar levels, they do not need to be tested - just look at their hand.
Another type of tattoos can signal an increase in the concentration of sodium ions in the plasma - this indicates dehydration. The tattoo changes its color from light green to dark green. This information can be useful for athletes during training.
Who was tested on
So far, biosensor inks have only been tested on piglet skin. But the researchers assure that this mechanism will work perfectly on human skin. In addition, they have developed a smartphone app that analyzes the color change of smart ink and determines what exactly is happening to your body.
Scientists conducted experiments on pieces of pigskin.
“Some people fear that information about their health will be available to strangers,” says Ali Etisen. - However, we can make the tattoo colorless, it will manifest itself only under ultraviolet light. Or inject ink for a short period, it will dissolve when the person finishes the treatment. Patients with various diseases are our main target audience. However, the know-how can be successfully adopted by cosmonauts. For them, constant monitoring of their health is very important, and getting an appointment with a doctor while in orbit is not so easy.
YAROSLAV KOROBATOV
