Professionals have been researching smart tattoos for years. These could bring major benefits, especially in the health sector, such as cancer.
Frankfurt – Technology is advancing and is already making everyday life easier for many people, and a lot is also happening in the health sector. Whether new vaccines, drugs or research into rare diseases, researchers around the world are working on improving human health health.
Now a new development should awaken special hope. Smart tattoos could in the future be used in the treatment of serious illnesses like cancer help. But what does it mean?
Tattoos against cancer and other diseases: researchers use OLED technology
Researchers from the London Center for Nanotechnology (LCN) and Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) have developed a “smart tattoo with multiple uses” that can be temporarily applied to the skin. It uses the same technology as smartphones and flat-screen TVs, a joint statement said Explanation.
The technology uses organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). These are made on tattoo paper and pressed onto the skin with a damp cloth, similar to what is known from peel-off tattoos for children. But what is that good for?
According to the researchers, the tattoos could signal when someone is dehydrated or to get out of the sun to avoid sunburn. “The tattooable OLEDs can be produced on a large scale and very cheaply. They can be combined with other forms of tattoo electronics and offer a wide range of uses,” explained Franco Cacialli, lead author of the process, which is published in the journal Advanced Electronic Materials has been published.
Smart tattoos to fight cancer? Technology can be used in many ways
The tattoos could be used not only in the food industry to identify expired products, but also in the medical field. The technology could “emit light when a patient’s condition changes – or, if the tattoo is worked into the skin the other way around, they could potentially be combined with light-sensitive therapies, for example to target cancer cells,” explained Cacialli.
The OLED tattoo developed by the researchers is 2.3 micrometers thick, about a third the size of a single red blood cell. “It consists of an electroluminescent polymer sandwiched between electrodes,” it said. The tattoos are not yet ready for use. The next step is to prevent the technology from decomposing too quickly through contact with air.
Intelligent tattoos against diseases: Technology can be “washed off with soap and water”
The tattoos can be removed just as easily as they are applied to the skin, promises Professor Virgilio Mattoli from the Italian research institute. They were “easily washed off with soap and water.” Also in the USA research is being done on intelligent tattoos, such as the Cornell University. “We wanted to develop a modular approach to smart tattoos so that they could be used as easily as Lego bricks,” the industry service quoted as saying it-daily the project manager Cindy (Hsin-Liu) Kao.
The so-called “SkinKit” is also attached to the skin and is equipped with small printed circuit board modules. As a result, it can be used flexibly, from the appointment calendar to health monitoring. Users could “easily plug the modules together and detach them again. Suppose you want to use one sensor for one purpose today, but another for tomorrow. You can just detach it and add new modules that can do other tasks in minutes,” says Kao.
Also biochemists like Carson Bruns research smart tattoos. Harvard and MIT researchers are testing smart tattoo ink that changes color when dehydration or fluctuations in blood sugar levels occur, one said Message on the part of the university. However, it will probably be some time before such technologies are actually approved and used outside of studies. (cheese)