Just What The Doc Ordered.. A Tattoo!
If John Rogers, a materials scientist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and his team have their way, it will not be long before doctors may be able to place an electronic device the size of a postage stamp as a temporary tattoo on your skin to monitor your health.
How does it work?
For doctors and patients, it is critical to be able to gather real time readings of temperature, blood flow, muscle movements, heart monitoring and blood pressure for quality health care. Imagine being tied down to bulky expensive equipment for monitoring ECG, and blood pressure. For patients a non-invasive temporary tattoo with sensors that moves along with the skin to read the body’s vital signs and one that can electronically send the information to the doctor’s computer, would be a boon.
Well if it was all that simple it would have been adopted a long while ago. Unfortunately materials have been the constraint. Silicon, the basis of electronic circuitry and computers is hard and brittle. It is not possible to make the wafers work on soft pliable skin. But that is where the team of scientists worked out a solution.
Let's play the Accordion
The scientists have come up with a material which is a form of elastic electronics that is biological and tissue-like. These patches or skins can deliver and monitor electric impulses into living tissue, and at the same time record the information from the impulses.
But that did not still solve the issue of silicon. In order to make the electronic material bend like a sheet of paper and stretch like a rubber band, the team arranged silicon wires in an accordion like 'bellow' fashion. They designed the device so that its wires could unfold letting the silicon strands move without shattering. Now, after three years of research, the scientists have produced a working device that looks like tiny, twisty snakes that wind through the stretchable material in complicated patterns. They form the different parts of the device – the sensors, antennae and power supply. Miraculously, this device can withstand stretching, poking and squeezing!
When placed on a forehead, the device can record brainwaves; on the wrist, it can record blood flow and muscle movement. They even found that when stuck to the throat, it can function as a secret cell phone, activated by the movements of a person’s voice box.
Other potential uses
While the product is not yet commercially available, it is merely a matter of time before the device will be available for use. Beyond biomedical uses, the device could have limitless uses and probably only restricted by our imagination. Imagine being able to read somebody’s thoughts or talk to someone without actually speaking.
Can you come up with some creative uses for a device such as this?
Courtesy: Science News for Kids
I don´t like tattoos.
this is so awesome it could help so many people! i kind of want one not only cause they look swwet but i could have my health monitored
It is amazing how science has developed over the years. There is no doubt that we will probably be able to read each others minds or talk without speaking in the next 100 years or so. That is why science is such an important career because it is what makes our world keep up with the quickly changing evolution. I think that invention is sooooo cool. It would be easy to wear (you probably wouldn't even notice it), and it would be interesting to see how it works. I would like to learn more about it!
this is really cool
that is like so sweet
sweet!
It is another generation of technology to tattoo for a doctors treatmaent.this could be the answer to getting rid of pills they taste horrible
Seems like it will be one expensive piece of whatever it is.
That would be really cool and that will help alot of doctors because it would be easy to do this!
Would it hurt to get a this tat on your skin? Well for me I wouldn't want to have this. Because I don't want to get a tattoo on me.
It is a temp. tat dude not a real one!!
Brandonv3: The tattoos that the scientists have designed is similar to temporary "sticker" tattoos. They should not hurt to put on and take off.
Wow! That would be so weird having a little stamp thing placed on your sking to monitor your health! That reminds me of futuristic cities in books where they have tracking devices or something and need a chip or something attatched to them to monitor their every movement (or in this case, health).
Wow!
This is really cool! it is amazing that just a little tattoo could monitor your health!
This is cool
This is cool!I wish they could have came out with that when I was little!
I want one because then you can keep track of your heath by yourself without having to go to a doctors appointment and its really cool.
technology has definitely gone places and this is the next thing that is happening.. wow!!
I love this article but being able to have some one moniter your musle movements and other thing is kind of freakky and to me it would be skalerish
Cool!!
It is really cool,that we can tattoo the tecnology.
That can be a dangerous thing do to most of all when it has not been completely used as a safe device. But once it is think about how easy it would be to take all the blood tests and other checkups without going through a big machine. I think technology is going far and is going to go even farther.
That's really cool! Just imagine never having to have a painful shot, or a procedure that could be really risky! This is definitely one of the coolest inventions! (:
i agree it a good article
It really gives a different perspective on how advanced our recent technology has become.
..i wonder if it'll hurt. kinda amazing though how it would work. but yes, kinda gross at the same time. i also wonder if there would be limitations in your life cause of it. like, no swimming or something (just an example)
That is a good story but it would be weird to have that!!
COOL!!!
but this article is pretty good compared to the other ones
Wow... that is really interesting... I cant even imagine how much that will cost when it comes out..
The video is sick at the beginning
A tattoo what ever
What ever? Really, do you not understand that this could help us stay healthy and check our health. This can help us maybe diagnose more accurately. Like one time somebody had a very bad strep throat but the doctor didn't know how bad it was. This could really help.
wow that was very interesting and gross
how much do you think it would cost to get that right when it came out?
This could be less expensive than other procedures and less risky than X-rays
That is so cool. I think everyone should have one to keep track of their own heath. It can help save money for driving to the doctors and paying to see the doctor.
it seems cool but it would probably hurt
the video is sick but the article is kinda cool. it's interesting how they can make such a small thing can monitor your health.
this is very interesting and weird at the same time. it's an easier way to check ur heath instead of all those other machines. it's a good idea, but won't it feel weird to wear or have inside ur body.
That is very cool. I think that that would be helpful for the world.
It is really cool that just that little electronic device can tell things about your health!! What are scientists going to invent next?!
That's cool, I want one of those
it help your health
I think it is amazing for somebody to think outside of the box alot.I think it is cool that he could actually just be sitting like in a lab or even sitting at home and just come up with a tatto that can read all that you are doing ,and if you put it on your neck you can talk without even talking because it is like on your vocal box. And you can also read peoples minds if they put it in the right place.
It is soo cool what we can do! Once we really work hard and actually care about something like this it is amazing what we can come up with! It is amazing that they actually came up with something that bends, stretches and moves with the human body. And when I first saw the picture it looked like a American flag temporary tattoo!
That is super cool. I can remember when I would put on those temparary tatoos. I cant wait untill the tatoo like thing will be in use. I wish I could try one out,but of course they are for people who are really sick or for people that have seizures. I really appreciate people like John Rodgers because they help us get through life.
That would have been cool if they had that when i was younger because i had 8 seizures in one day. I had brain surgery, eye surgery, head surgery, lip surgery,and stiches on my knee.
i think that was a great article because it gave alot of details that helped me understand it